Red, White, and Dead
by Batman Lamp-Writer
Summary: After finding a young teen alone in the streets, the team gets pulled into a strange case involving ghosts, doppelgangers, and, somehow, that same teen they took in temporarily... Warning-violence, gore, language...
1. Chapter 1

A/N: Yeah, so I officially have a monopoly on DP/CM cross-overs. YAY! Anywayz, darker than the other one. Be prepared for gore, and some other stuff, but nothing too explicit.

Playlist for this chapter: Breaking Benjamin's "Sooner or Later," Linkin Park's "Easier to Run," and OneRepublic's "Stop and Stare."

|23|) \/\/|-|!73 4|\||) |)34|)

He usually woke at the slightest sound. As a child, he once woke up from a dead sleep because his sister—in her room down the hall from his—coughed. That natural talent of his came in handy later, when he needed his subtle ghost sense to alert him at a moment's notice. However, there was always one exception to his talent.

Nightmares. Like the one he was having now.

Not even the cars driving by, the dogs barking, the trees whipping about in the wind, the thunder that almost immediately followed each flash of lightning could wake him. All because he was lost in the pure terror.

Of his past.

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_This __**thing**__ is just that. A __**thing**__. He—no, it's not even __**worthy**__ of being called a '__**he**__'—__**it**__ killed its own __**family!**__ The people who __**raised**__ this __**monster!**__ The people who took __**pity**__ on it! It will likely kill us __**all!**__ …No…not likely…. If given the chance, it __**will**__ kill us. __**Every one of us….**_

_**You**__ killed them, Daniel, not me. It was because of __**you**__ that they died! And unless you leave __**now**__, you'll also have killed your __**friends.**_

|23|) \/\/|-|!73 4|\||) |)34|)

Danny lurched up, screaming. It took him a good five minutes to realize that he wasn't back there. It had been almost two years since he had left, and he was in Virginia now. Quantico. He had no idea what possessed him to come here, but for some reason, it felt _right_.

Now if he could just stay here for a while, he'd be free. And to do that, he needed a home.

|23|) \/\/|-|!73 4|\||) |)34|)

Supervisory Special Agent Dr. Spencer Reid was on his way in to work when he heard the screaming. The sudden change from peaceful to panicked caused him to reach for his gun.

But before he could pull it from its harness, the screaming stopped. Worried yet determined to find out what it was, Reid moved forward and into a small alley. For a few moments, he saw nothing. No blood, no weapon, no _people_. Then he moved forward a few more steps and saw a teen boy, huddled in the corner and gripping at his hair.

He fully released the gun now, creeping towards the boy, quietly so as to not startle him. "Hey," he said in a whisper, "what're you doing out here?"

The teen hadn't even moved, like he already knew someone was there. "M—My parents are gone for the week, and I lost my key. I'm locked out."

"No spare? No siblings?"

"_No._"

Reid blinked. That was a rather aggressive answer. He dismissed it and sighed. "You're welcome to come with me."

"No."

He looked puzzled that the boy would deny help. "Why not?"

"I don't know who the hell you are or what you do."

"I'm Spencer Reid. I work with the FBI, in the Behavioral Analysis Unit," Reid answered immediately.

The teen's eyebrow quirked up. "Oh? Prove it."

So Reid flashed him his badge. The kid nodded.

"Says 'Doctor' on this."

"Ah, yeah, not medical, though."

The teen nodded, extended a hand, still looking at the badge. "Danny. Where were you headed?"

"Work."

Danny bit his lip. "…Does your offer still stand?"

Reid grinned. "Of course."

|23|) \/\/|-|!73 4|\||) |)34|)

Derek Morgan was the first to notice the tag-along. "Hey, Pretty Boy," he called, "who's the kid?"

"Uh, he's, uh, see, I—"

"Hey, kid, what're you doin' here?"

"Got locked out, he found me, brought me here," Danny replied simply.

"Yeah, well, whatever you do, don't get him started on math or science or—y'know, just don't get him started on _anything_."

Danny nodded while Reid looked flustered and Morgan walked over to his desk. Meanwhile, Emily Prentiss looked up from her own work. "Hey, Reid, what's with the kid?"

"Got locked out—" Danny began.

"I brought him here."

Prentiss paused, nodded, turned back around.

Aaron Hotchner and David Rossi came into the room, the former storming forward and the latter glancing amusedly at Reid's desk, which Danny seemed to have claimed.

Hotch passed the desk and stopped to talk to his three agents. "We have a new case. Come to the roundtable room and—"

"Reid, what's going on?" Rossi interrupted.

Hotch turned, glanced at Rossi, and followed his gaze to Reid's desk. "What…?" He frowned. "Reid, you know that as FBI, we do not have Bring Your Child to Work—"

Morgan and Prentiss laughed hysterically. Reid sputtered, almost glowing red. Rossi grinned, and Danny simply stated. "Not his kid. He pulled me off the street."

"I see," Hotch said. "So Reid will watch you while we start on this case."

"Ah, but—!"

"You can take the kid and help Garcia."

Reid looked defeated. "Yes, sir."

Danny, on the other hand, looked furious. "I don't _need_ a _babysitter_."

Rossi glanced back at them. "Humor us. Reid, go help Garcia. And take the kid with you!"

|23|) \/\/|-|!73 4|\||) |)34|)

"We've got a trailing case," Jennifer Jareau—JJ—explained. "They've only recently connected the bodies."

"What do you mean?" Hotch asked.

JJ glanced around, frowned. "Where's—?"

"Reid's sticking with Garcia on this one. As a punishment," Rossi stated.

"He brought an unknown kid in," Morgan continued.

JJ raised an eyebrow but didn't ask. "The bodies were found in several different cities, trailing from California to Virginia."

"How are they connected?"

"Three people, a girl, boy, and man, killed over and over again."

"What?" Prentiss gasped.

"Exactly why the police were confused. There are nine bodies, as though three sets of identical triplets were murdered during some cross-country race. The deaths are somewhat spaced apart, about two months between each, and anywhere between fifty and two hundred miles apart."

"No noticeable differences between the bodies?" Hotch asked.

"They each have a tattoo of some numbers on the back of their necks, but that's it."

"So, who _are_ they?" Morgan demanded.

"That's just it. _We don't know_. There's no files _anywhere_ for any of them. They had no ID on them. There was _nothing_. The only thing that truly linked the three separate sets together were the messages, left behind in blood." She laid out the nine pictures.

"_There __**will**__ be more."_

"_The Phantom __**must**__ move on."_

"_You __**can't**__ save them."_

"_Give up and __**maybe**__ I'll let them live."_

"_I know you're here."_

"_Fly away again, little Phantom."_

"_Flee like you always do."_

"_They just won't stop, will they? The __**nightmares.**__"_

"_You're killing them. Over and over again."_

The team was hushed. Then, "Who is Phantom?" Rossi wondered.

JJ shook her head. "No idea. Whoever he is, he's the reason behind this all. Our UnSub either wants him gone… or _dead_."

|23|) \/\/|-|!73 4|\||) |)34|)

Penelope Garcia could work with Reid in the room. Even if he _did_ lean over her shoulder all the time. It was the teen who was disconcerting. At first, she'd been thrilled, cooing over the new 'cutie'. Then, he seemed to pull away from everything, like Reid often did. But, unlike Reid, he didn't blink and laugh it off when it was brought to his attention.

But Reid had ignored those scary eyes, so she could, too. She distracted herself by pulling up the photos of the crime scenes as Reid asked for them. Red blood flashed across her screens, and Reid made sure to get a good look at each picture before tellilng her to go to the next set. She did.

This was the one problem with her distraction. Now she needed a distraction from it. She found herself watching the teen's reaction to each set. As more blood was pulled on screen, the teen simply looked bored. Then, Reid asked to see the messages.

_That_ set got a reaction from the teen. Not much of one, but still. His eyes had widened, and he tensed.

Reid still hadn't noticed, too caught up in whatever was going on in that pretty head of his. "Garcia, have you found anything yet on—?"

"Phantom? No, nothing yet."

Reid nodded. "Next?"

The next set was the bodies. She turned away again, just barely in time to see a flicker of _something_ in the teen's eyes as he nearly killed one of her chairs by squeezing the arms too much. But the most surprising thing was the look on his face. It was a look of vengeance, of anger, of guilt.

It was a look of bloodlust.

|23|) \/\/|-|!73 4|\||) |)34|)

A/N: 'Kay. Have fun with this one! Or, as much fun as you can have while reading the gore and stuff. Interestingly enough, while my other CM/DP cross-over focuses more on DP, this one's more CM oriented. Funny. Anywayz, read and review!


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Hey, guys. Sorry about the wait. Real life's being a—well, not nice. Trying to force myself to type up what I've got written hasn't been so easy lately.

But, you're not here to hear/read me rant. Here's your story!

Playlist for this chapter: Disturbed's "The Night," Breaking Benjamin's "I Will Not Bow," and POD's "Youth of the Nation."

|23|) \/\/|-|!73 4|\||) |)34|)

"I'm _telling_ you, sugar, there's something _wrong_ with that boy!"

Morgan sighed. "Look, baby girl, I know he's a bit suspicious—"

"_A bit suspicious?_ Have you ever seen those Happy Bunny shirts? Specifically, the one that says 'Cute but psycho, things even out'?"

Morgan frowned. "Are you suggesting this kid is—?"

"No, no, no! Well, he _is_ adorable… but no. He's just… creepy."

"Well, don't you worry, baby girl, your sugar daddy's got an eye on him."

She giggled. "That's all I ask.

|23|) \/\/|-|!73 4|\||) |)34|)

He may not have noticed before, but now at his desk looking over the photos again, he saw it. Yet he saw the looks differently than Garcia.

Danny was _definitely_ used to the blood, which suggested an abusive household or relationship, the former of which would explain his being locked out. But then Danny would glare at the messages and wince away from the bodies. The reaction to the bodies was understandable, but to the letters…. Did he somehow know Phantom?

"Um, Danny, do you—?" Reid's phone cut him off, and he snapped angrily into it. "Yeah?"

_"There's been another killing."_ Hotch stated. _"_**_Here._**_"_

"Which one?" Reid pulled the set of body pictures closer. Danny's eyes widened.

_"It's a new one, female, older. Probably around the man's age. Red hair, dark blue eyes. Might be related to the girl."_

"Okay, where?"

_"In an alley near our office."_ Hotch rattled off the address.

Reid blinked, glanced at Danny, then looked away. That alley… that's where he found Danny this morning. "What's the message this time?"

_"'You should have _**_listened_**_.'"_

Reid wrote that down, absently noticing Danny reading it over his shoulder and nearly snarling. "Alright. I can check the body out."

_"Good. We won't be back for a little while. We're checking on some of the more recent scenes."_

"Okay."

_"And, Reid?"_

"Yeah?"

_"Keep an eye on the kid."_

Reid's brow furrowed. "What do you—?"

_"We'll explain later. Just keep watch on him."_

Hotch hung up. Reid wasted a moment staring at the phone, then grabbed his messenger bag and turned to Danny. "Come with me. They've found another body."

Danny blinked, surprised to be invited along, but jumped up to follow Reid out of the building.

They came quickly to the alley Danny had been in. It was roped off now by crime scene tape that Reid was quickly allowed past. Danny had to stay on the other side. He didn't mind. He could see everything he needed to from here.

Reid was kneeling by the body, making sure he saw everything. The message was once again prominently displayed, but the body was less defiled than the others. Where the others had been hacked apart, she had a few small cuts by major arteries. She bled out fairly quickly and painlessly. More likely than not, she'd been drugged, too, so she hadn't felt anything. The unsub definitely regretted killing her. Even the message, 'you should have listened', showed regret. She meant something to the unsub.

"Hey, kid, get back there!" an officer yelled.

Reid spun, seeing Danny being pushed back behind the tape. He was struggling, yelling something.

"There's something on her hand!"

Reid frowned, glanced back at the body. Something _had_ been written on her hand. "Stop, he's with me."

The officers stopped, letting go reluctantly. Danny pulled free and walked over to Reid, shivering, arms wrapped around himself. "I saw it, on her hand…."

Reid turned the hand over, and another message was revealed. "'Which is real, which is fake? Or have they all been _unwound?_'" Reid read aloud.

Danny winced. Reid noticed.

"What's wrong?"

Danny shook his head. "It—It's a book I read one time. _Unwind_. They took kids and 'unwound' them for body parts and organs as an alternative to abortion."

Reid remembered it. "Neal Shusterman, right? So, he's insinuating that he took body parts from each of them?"

"Didn't the others have some tattoo or something?"

Reid nodded, storing the idea to bring it up with his team later. "Back of the neck." A CSI came over and helped Reid roll her over. There, on the back of her neck was a string of numbers, like a—

"Serial number," Reid gasped. "It's a serial number." He pulled out his PDA, flipping through the photos from the other scenes. "They're _all_ serial numbers! Like they were manufactured or—"

"Cloned," Danny hissed.

Reid paused at this. "That's it…. I need to tell Hotch!" He left the scene to find a spot with better cell service.

Alone now, or at least somewhat, Danny sunk down next to the body. "_Mom_," he whispered, barely even able to hear himself. His eyes flashed green for a moment as he looked at her, and he froze. Glancing about to make sure no one was paying attention to him, he leaned in slightly and made his eyes flash.

There was no mistaking it this time. Someone had written another message, just for him, in a special kind of ectoplasm. One seen only by ghost eyes.

_You made me do this, boy. You'll never escape, yet you run anyway. Admit defeat, and I'll stop. Don't and, well, you won't like who goes next. It's up to you, Daniel. Turn yourself in, or become "Dunfee"._

Danny inhaled sharply, remembering the poem Sam had made up after their class had read _Unwind_.

_"Humphrey Dunfee made a mistake,  
Humphrey Dunfee was sent far away.  
They searched and they killed ever since then  
But couldn't put Humphrey Dunfee together again."_

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"They're _clones_, Hotch! That's why they look identical! _And_ why they have the tattoo! They're serial numbers!"

_"Reid. Reid, calm down. We'll be there in a little bit, just keep the scene intact."_

"Okay. The CSU is working on that."

_"Where's the kid?"_

"Oh, Danny? He's back there."

_"Where?"_

"At the scene."

_"…_**_What?_**_ You left him _**_unsupervised_**_ at the scene of the crime?"_ Morgan had taken control of Hotch's phone.

Reid winced at the volume. "Um, yeah? Why? What's wrong with that?"

_"What's wrong with—? I'll _**_tell_**_ you what's wrong, Reid! We don't _**_know_**_ this kid! He shows up out of nowhere and suddenly this crazy case comes to our attention? Something's _**_not right_**_."_

"I—I don't understand—"

_"We'll fill you in when we get back." _Hotch had gotten his phone back. _"Until then, keep him _**_out_**_ of our case."_ Hotch hung up.

Reid walked confusedly back to the crime scene, where Danny was curled up against a wall, looking petrified at the body, a giant change from his attitude before. "C'mon," Reid said quietly, "let's head back. Hotch and the others'll be back soon."

Danny allowed himself to be led away.

|23|) \/\/|-|!73 4|\||) |)34|)

Reid glanced at his desk again, noticing Danny yawn and start to close his eyes. Then, the boy shook his head and took another swig of the can before him. As Danny put the can down, Reid saw he looked much more alert.

Reid looked around, making sure his colleagues were busy. Then he moved over to his desk and asked, "What _is_ that stuff, anyway?"

Danny blinked at him. "It's an energy drink. Like Monster or Amp."

Now Reid blinked.

Danny sighed. "It's the same amount of caffeine per gulp as a full cup of coffee."

Reid's eyebrows shot upwards. At that rate, one can of this energy drink stuff would be equivalent to all the coffee he ended up drinking throughout the day. "So, it's like coffee?"

"Yeah. Why?"

"Can I try some?"

Confused, Danny handed him an extra can. Reid took it and went into the break room, Danny following. "What're you—?"

Reid grabbed a jar of sugar, opened the can, and started mixing the sugar in.

Danny gaped. "Quit that! It's already _got_ sugar in it!"

Reid blinked up at him. "…Oh." He put the sugar jar down and grabbed the can, taking a sip.

Danny grimaced, thinking how it obviously had to be _way_ too sweet.

"Mm, yeah, it did have a little sugar." Reid gulped down the drink, causing Danny's eyes to widen. That much caffeine and sugar all at once—!

Reid stood, twitching a bit more than usual as he headed back to his desk.

Danny buried his head in his arms. "Oh, this won't end well…."

|23|) \/\/|-|!73 4|\||) |)34|)

Rossi was the first to notice Reid's behavior. The younger agent was pulling out files and quickly going through four or five at a time.

"Reid, what are you doing?"

"Needtogetthesedone," he answered quickly. "Havetofindapattern. They_must_connect_somehow_…."

Rossi blinked, unable to understand what was said. "Hey, Morgan," he called, "you speak Reid, right?"

Morgan chuckled and walked over. "Yeah, why?"

"I need a translator." Turning back to Reid, Rossi said, "Why are you working so fast?"

"Havetofindapattern. Needtogetthesedone."

Rossi glanced up at Morgan. "He's trying to find a pattern and get them done."

"How much coffee have you had today, kid?"

Reid shook his head quickly, jerkily. "None. ."

"Woah, woah, hold up." Morgan raised an eyebrow. "Stuff _Danny_ gave you?"

"Yeah. Don'."

Morgan spun and went to find the teen, who was still hiding in the break room. "Yo, kid!" he called.

Danny jerked up. "Uh, yeah?"

"What'd you give Reid?"

Danny's brow furrowed. "Cocaine, why—?"

Morgan slammed the kid into a wall. "You gave him _coke?_ What the _hell_ were you _thinking?_"

"It's not—!"

"Nothin'! That's what!" Morgan flipped the teen around, pulling out his handcuffs and snapping them on Danny's wrists. "You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say—"

"What's going on here?" Hotch said as he walked in. A jittery Reid was behind him.

Morgan nodded at Danny. "This kid slipped Reid cocaine."

Hotch's eyebrows rose. "Is this true, Reid?"

Reid started to nod, then shook his head. "I—I—I d—don't kn—know. H—H—He s—said i—it—it w—was l—like c—coff—fee."

"What?" Morgan demanded, pushing Danny further against the wall. "The hell you tell him _that_ for? He drinks coffee like it's _water!_"

"How was _I_ supposed to know the _genius_ over there would start dumping _sugar_ into a frickin' _energy drink?_"

Morgan froze. "Energy drink?"

"Oh, there you are, Hotch! The serial numbers don't—What's going on?" Garcia asked as she came in, confused.

Reid had jumped a mile at her sudden entrance. Hotch glanced back at her. "Misunderstanding."

"Okay…. Where the handcuffs necessary?"

"Morgan misunderstood what Danny meant when he said he gave Reid 'Cocaine'."

Garcia's eyes narrowed at the teen. "You gave my junior G-Man that much caffeine?"

"Apparently, he gets that much from coffee, anyway," Danny grumbled. "Besides, the jitteriness is his own fault for dumping half a jar of sugar in it!"

Garcia burst into laughter. "H—He put _sugar_ i—in _Cocaine?_"

Morgan finally released Danny, still not taking the cuffs off. "Does _everyone_ know about this stuff?"

"Just most caffeine addicts," Garcia stated.

"Be glad I didn't have an extra can of FIXX Extreme Ultra Shots."

Hotch and Morgan blinked. "Why?"

Danny smiled wryly. "Think he's hyped up now? That stuff has almost _twice_ the caffeine."

|23|) \/\/|-|!73 4|\||) |)34|)

Garcia was finally able to explain to everyone why she'd had to hunt down Hotch.

"The serial numbers were a dead end. No connection to any product or company _anywhere_. I've got nothing on this guy, Hotch. _Nothing._"

The single teen in their group was frowning still at the crime scene pictures.

"The only thing connecting this new body to the old ones is the message," Morgan stated.

"A—And the s—serial n—numbers," Reid stuttered, still slightly juiced.

"There's a possibility of there being two more clones of this victim," Prentiss suggested.

"No," Rossi declared. "He shows too much regret with this one. Her face was turned away. He didn't _want_ to kill her, just to make a point. Garcia, can you find a link to who they're cloned from? Look for anyone fitting their appearance and missing about two or three years ago."

"Yes, sir." Garcia left.

"Still nothing about this Phantom?" Hotch asked.

JJ sighed. "Nothing. Complete blank."

"Alright, then let's—"

"Is there a Danny here?"

The teen glanced up, blinking in surprise at the young girl. The others frowned, especially Hotch. "How did you get up here? Past clearance?"

"My momma works here. I stay in the daycare most days. Is there a Danny here?"

"Yeah," Danny stated, walking towards her cautiously. She looked familiar.

"Here. I was told to give you this, then go back to daycare." She handed him a small note, then left as suddenly as she'd come.

Danny flicked open the note and read it through.

'_Meet me tomorrow or the clone destroys everyone in that daycare. You'll know where to find me.'_

He crumpled up the note, forcing a grin. "Heh, my parents are back. Sorry I was a burden on you all. I'll go home now." He practically ran out the doors.

Reid blinked while the rest of the team shared a look. Something was wrong.

And they'd find out what.

|23|) \/\/|-|!73 4|\||) |)34|)

A/N: Just thought I'd say, I do not own, nor have I tried, Cocaine or FIXX Extreme Ultra Shots. And, yes, there is an insane amount of caffeine in them. I think cocaine's actually illegal in the states, but I took poetic license so Danny's got some.

I also do not own _Unwind_. Well, I have a copy, but the plot and characters are all Neal Shusterman's. And he can keep them. That book kinda freaked _me_ out, some.

So, read and review, all! Should have the next up soon, or at least sooner than this one was…. -.-U


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: Hey, guys. So I know it's been forever, but I've had a lot of stuff going on IRL since I last updated. I'm trying to stay interested in this story, but I can't guarantee it. Regardless, I _will_ post what I have written, so expect at least three more chapters to come.

Playlist for this chapter: Skillet's "Forsaken," Evanescence's "Hello," and the Used's "Blood on My Hands."

|23|) \/\/|-|!73 4|\||) |)34|)

By the end of the day, most of the team had forgotten about the odd way the teen had left. However, Reid had not, and he wouldn't let his colleagues ignore it.

"It's not _logical_," he'd say to anyone who came near. "He never left any kind of message to let his parents know he was here. He never called _anyone!_ How would they know where to contact him?"

"Reid, focus on the _case!_" Hotch demanded. He sighed. "Why don't you see what you can find out about Phantom? Maybe cross-reference with Garcia. That could end up helping you both."

Reid hesitated, but nodded. He sat down and started typing away at his computer.

Morgan winced as he moved forward to hiss at Hotch. "Reid's got a point. The kid never had a chance to contact his parents, and Reid said earlier that the parents weren't s'posed to be back for a week."

Hotch nodded, murmuring back, "It _is_ suspicious. But he's gone now, so it's no longer our issue. We'll just have to continue on the case."

"I just don't like it, Hotch. The kid's connected _somehow_, but I don't know how."

|23|) \/\/|-|!73 4|\||) |)34|)

Danny spent another tireless night in an alleyway, worrying over which clone Vlad would kill next.

Or if it even _would_ be a clone.

It was bad enough trying to fake anonymity around the BAU while they were on this case. Now back on the streets, his fake confidence was torn away, leaving him more vulnerable than ever.

And Vlad knew it.

With bitter thoughts racing through his head, Danny curled up and tried to sleep.

|23|) \/\/|-|!73 4|\||) |)34|)

Reid blinked in shock at his screen. When he finally realized the search results weren't changing, he jumped up and raced around to find Hotch.

"Hotch!" he cried as he shoved open the door to his boss' office. "I—I found something on Danny—"

"Reid, I told you to forget about the kid."

"No, Hotch, Danny _Phantom_."

Hotch blinked up at him. "…I'm listening."

|23|) \/\/|-|!73 4|\||) |)34|)

Everyone was quickly gathered as soon as Hotch determined that Reid had found relevant information. "As weird as what you're about to hear might sound," Hotch began, "it's the best lead we've got. I have Garcia checking the information now." Hotch nodded to Reid and sat down.

Reid stood. "I found a lead on Phantom." He stepped to the side so his colleagues would be able to see the website now displayed on the wall. "He's originally from Amity Park, California. It's a small town known for being severely haunted."

Prentiss, Morgan, JJ, and Rossi all shot disbelieving looks at Hotch. "A _ghost? Seriously?_" Morgan complained.

"_Believe it, my little chickadees," _Garcia's voice stated over the phone. _"I've got everything Ii need to back my boy genius up."_

Reid grinned, slightly less nervous now. "Thanks, Garcia."

"_Anything for you."_

"Phantom's famous in Amity Park for being a hero. _And_ a villain. Apparently for a while, he was on the fence, leaning more towards good than bad. Then, about two years ago, he was said to have killed three people, a family."

"_All the records have been through the rumor mill, so it's unclear which family exactly."_

"Right. But the facts remain that three people died and Phantom was blamed for it. The next day, two kids were said to have been killed—"

"_Names also lost to the rumor mill—"_

"And a third went missing. The Amity Park citizens were all pointing fingers at Phantom, but he had disappeared. He was spotted once heading east, but never seen again. Not even a month later, the first body shows up."

"But how are they connected?" Prentiss asked.

"Good question. Garcia?" Reid stepped back to let them focus on Garcia's voice.

"_Right. The descriptions of our vics match with those of one of the families rumored to have been killed by Phantom. They're the Fentons, Jack and Maddie, and daughter Jazmine. There's some mention of a son being born, but no records or anything on him. I didn't even find a name."_

"When was he supposedly born?" Rossi questioned.

"_Around sixteen years ago. The boy you found might have been one of the two kids declared dead."_

"So, ideas?" Hotch demanded of his team.

"Someone's angry at Phantom for killing these people and is getting revenge by throwing it in his face?" Prentiss suggested.

"They want Phantom gone. It's possible," Morgan stated.

"No, it's too well organized. This isn't revenge killing, unless the killer has already killed several times before," Reid replied. "No first timer could mutilate the bodies so easily without being psychotic."

Rossi nodded. "It's gotta be the same person who framed Phantom for the murders. There's no other explanation."

"Okay, but how do we find out who that was?"

"_Um, guys?"_ Garcia timidly called from the phone. _"More pressing issue. They've found another body, and they're taking someone in as a suspect."_

"What? Who, Garcia?" Hotch demanded.

"_Um…."_ There was the sound of typing, then a gasp. _"Oh, no! Guys, it's our little visitor from yesterday!"_

"What?"

"_They've taken in Danny for killing these people!"_

|23|) \/\/|-|!73 4|\||) |)34|)

Danny had no idea how, but he somehow knew where Vlad would strike. And so he found himself staring down the opening of an alley right outside an apartment complex. Setting his shoulders back and gathering what little confidence he had left, he stepped into the alley, calling out, "I know you're here, Vlad. And so do the people in the BAU." He didn't think a little while lie would make a difference.

"Ah, Daniel, so like you to pull together a little confidence when you really have none."

Danny crept a little deeper into the alley. "What do you want, Vlad? Why call me out here?"

"Now, Daniel, you don't want to ruin the _surprise_, do you?"

He heard Vlad cluck his tongue, imagining him shaking his head. Danny took another step closer. "Actually, I don't care about any frickin'—"

He fell trying to lift his foot and take another step. "What the—?" He looked down, realizing his feet had sunk into the ground. His eyes flicked up to Vlad as he yelled out, "What the hell did you do?"

The man before him shrugged. "Ask Spectra. I might have brought along a few _friends_."

Suddenly, Danny was picked back up, but only to have his arms tugged out to either side, feet still through the ground. Ghosts were suddenly everywhere, grabbing at him, hitting him, pulling at him. Soon enough, he simply hung limply against the ropes that now kept him in place. He glanced up through dark bangs at Vlad. "So that's it? You called me out here to crucify me?"

Vlad chuckled. Never a good sign. "Oh, no, boy. I simply needed to make sure you'd sit still and _watch_." Vlad turned his attention away. "Spectra, keep him from looking away."

The shadow-like ghost grinned. "Ooh, this'll be _fun!_" She flew back to Danny, grabbing his chin. "Now, be a good boy and watch, or I'll have to teach you another lesson, won't I?" she whispered into his ear, tongue flicking out and dancing around his lobe.

Danny flinched away from her, remembering what had happened the last time she "taught him a lesson." It wasn't a lesson he forgot.

Vlad chuckled at Danny's inability to escape. "Well, I suppose it's time for the main event, then." He spun around and pulled something out of the shadows.

Scratch that, some_one._

Danny had to blink away tears as he saw the girl for the first time in two years. But he wasn't just crying at seeing her, he was crying at the blank, emotionless, _dead_ expression on her face. Black hair hung into glazed violet eyes, and she just sort of withered in Vlad's grip. Her pale skin was bruising where he held her.

"L—Let her go, Vlad," Danny whispered. "You have me, let her go."

"Oh, no. See, your reaction just now has proved to me that _this_ is the one that will send you into the breakdown I've been waiting _years_ for. I plan on taking my time with _her._"

A knife flashed open in Vlad's hand, and he slowly traced the blade down one of the girl's arms. Danny strained against his bonds, cursing loudly at Vlad. A hand suddenly at his waist made him freeze, which in turn caused Spectra to laugh and hug him close from behind. He grimaced to be touched by her, but she didn't notice.

Instead, she spoke to him. "Vlad told me his plan, you know," she said casually. "He even asked me for ideas. See, I like my _own_ methods of torture—" she traced a dancing line down his arms, causing him to shudder as she leeched his happiness away— "but Vlad is so much more… _sadistic_. Sure, we all _know_ that your family and friends are your weak point, but we could never get close enough to take them. It's an unfair advantage, being human. But, not even _we_ ever thought to _clone_ the ones you love.

"How many bodies have you found, Danny?" Her voice was positively gleeful. "How many more times will you watch your friends die? How many more times will you see their bodies mutilated and bloody? How many—"

He threw his head back, satisfied when he heard Spectra shriek.

Vlad spun to them, still holding the bleeding girl. He saw Danny's eyes flicker in defiance as the teen twisted against his bonds. Vlad snarled, "I see. So you've grown accustomed to seeing them cut open. Then I suppose I'll have to try something _new._" Vlad stowed the knife and instead, his hands went to the buttons on her skirt.

Spectra forced Danny to watch, tears streaking down his face, as he finally broke, just as Vlad had hoped. He was made to look on as Vlad took the one he loved.

When the act was done, Vlad pulled the knife back out and sliced her arms and legs and face. He looked back at the broken teen that hung limply once more. Spectra flitted around, pulling as much misery from the teen as possible. Vlad called her over, giving her orders to cut Danny loose and bring him to the body.

She did so with a grin on her face, dropping the boy almost on top of the body. Then, she danced away once more, still close enough to feed off his angst.

Now covered in her blood, Danny glared weakly up at Vlad. "So now what?" he spat. "You're gonna kill me, right? I'm the only one left, and it must be getting boring, killing the same people over and over again."

Vlad grabbed Danny's hand, shoving it into one of the deeper cuts on the girl's body. Danny winced, grimacing as he was forced to write the bloody message on the wall.

_Their blood is on __**your**__ hands._

Danny flinched as Vlad released his arm, realizing exactly how literal that certain message was. He didn't even notice when the ghosts disappeared, instead moving back to the body. He reached a bloody hand out and brushed her hair out of her face. "I'm _so_ sorry, Sam…."

"Not y'r f'lt," she murmured, barely moving her lips.

"_Sam?_"

"You… c'n st'l s've 'em. B't g't h'lp. You c'n… sav… them…." Her head lolled to the side.

"Sam?_ Sam!_" Biting his lip and glancing around, Danny rolled her over so he could see the back of her neck.

Nothing was there.

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A/N: I'll try to write more soon. Review, y'all.


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: Hey, so I'm closing in on how much I've got prewritten for this story. Actually, after this chapter, I've got three already written and needing to be typed. Here's the thing, though: I'm gonna need to write the last chapter or two before posting much more, since I've had the experience in the past of some random plot twist screwing up something I wrote previously. Also, some reviews I've gotten from the last chapter have me working out exactly _how_ I wanna end this, so, yes, you're reviews are read and considered even if I don't get around to replying (which, thanks to ffnet, I haven't been able to do at all this week T.T).

All in all, I'm hoping to actually finish this story within about five chapters, just pray that I don't get too side-tracked by other ideas/college/life…. -.-'

Playlist for this chapter: Flyleaf's "Perfect," Evanescence's "Everybody's Fool," and Nickelback's "Hangnail."

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Danny was still searching for the numbers that would prove this wasn't really Sam when the police pulled up. They immediately decided he was at fault, slamming him into the wall and cuffing him. He didn't resist, unable to after hitting his head.

One of the officers was checking the body for a pulse. He shook his head, and Danny went limp, allowing them to drag him away.

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"What's going on here?" Hotch demanded.

"We caught him. We don't need you anymore," the chief of police stated, sneering down his nose at the FBI agent. "We're just working on a confession now."

"What evidence do you have that points to him?"

The man smirked, ticking the points off on his fingers. "He was still at the scene, his hands and clothes were soaked with blood, and we positively identified his fingerprints and handprints from the message on the wall. It was him." The chief crossed his arms, looking smug.

Hotch wasn't about to roll over and die. "What can you tell us about the victim?"

"Caucasian female, about sixteen, black hair, violet eyes, Jane Doe. Cuts down her arms, legs, and face. She was raped."

Prentiss shot Hotch a look. "He's escalating. Not only was it sooner, but he never showed any sign of sexual abuse before."

"Where are you questioning the suspect?" Rossi asked, ignoring Reid's glare at his use of the s-word.

"The _perp_ is being held in room five."

Hotch nodded for the others to go ahead while he explained. "You called us in about this case, and we won't drop it until we make _sure_ we've got the right guy."

The man practically snarled into Hotch's face. "And what makes you think we _don't?_"

Hotch growled right back, "He was with _us_ when the previous body was found."

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"Look, kid," an annoyed officer was saying, "the faster you tell me what happened, the sooner you get outta here."

The boy just sat there, staring at the blood on his hands. No one had allowed him to wash up before interrogating him.

"Kid, just say you did it so I can go home!"

His fists clenched and unclenched rhythmically as he wished he could punch Vlad's face in.

"Just _tell me_ what _you did!_"

Nothing he said would make them catch Vlad. After all, they had already decided _he _was at fault, not that bastard.

That murderous, sadistic, perverted—

Danny's eyes teared up, and he found himself quickly blinking them away.

"Kid, _answer. The. Damn. QUESTION!_"

The door burst open, and Hotch stormed in. "My client doesn't have to answer _anything._ Now, I need a room with no camera and no mics where I can speak with my client _privately._"

The officer grudgingly told him what he wanted to know. Then Hotch grabbed Danny by the arm and pulled him away.

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"Danny," Hotch said, much quieter than the officer from a minute ago, "we need you to tell us what happened, why you were there."

Danny stared blankly at the table. Reid had cleaned the blood from the teen's hands the best he could, but Danny could still smell it, feel it, see it there.

"What happened when you left the BAU?"

Still Danny refused to respond.

Reid moved forward. "Danny, who was that note _really_ from?"

Danny's head snapped up at those words, eyes wide.

"We know it couldn't have been your parents. Who was it? What did he say?"

"H—He would've killed them if I didn't go," Danny mumbled, barely loud enough for Reid, who sat next to him, to hear.

"Killed who?"

The others simply watched as Reid calmly and efficiently took over.

"Th—The kids in the daycare."

Reid nodded. "The girl was a clone, too, wasn't she?"

Danny looked back down, nodded. "He would've had her kill them."

"What did he want you to do?"

"Meet him."

"Where?"

Danny shook his head. "Didn't say. But I knew. I—I just _knew_. A—And he—" His voice choked off.

"What?" Reid prompted.

"…He killed her. He _killed_ her." Once the words were out, it was like the dam broke. "He cut her up and raped her and killed her and I couldn't stop him…." The flood seemed to slow as he whispered, "I couldn't save her." Tears were streaking down Danny's face as the images flashed before his eyes once more.

"He kept you from saving her?"

Danny nodded. "Tied me up. Made me watch."

"Did—Danny, did you _know_ the other victims?"

The tears doubled, and the team didn't need Danny's nod to know the answer.

"Who were they, Danny?"

The room was silent enough to hear a pin drop as they all waited for Danny to say—

"…My friends, my family…."

JJ and Prentiss' eyes went wide. Morgan's fists clenched as he ground his teeth. Rossi and Hotch shared a quick look as if to say 'knew it.' Reid simply continued his questioning. "How did you know about the cloning?"

"He'd done it before."

"W—Was this last one—?"

The tears built up again, flying about as he shook his head. "Th—There wasn't a tattoo! I—I looked and looked but _nothing!_ She _can't_ be dead, not her! She never _did_ anything! None of them did! It's all between me and Vlad!"

The team blinked at that outburst and the bit of information he'd let slip. "Wh—Who's Vlad?" Reid stuttered.

But Danny had shut down, refusing to speak.

Hotch nodded to the others, knowing that was all they'd get from the teen. They left to tell Garcia what little more they knew, leaving the teen alone with his thoughts.

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"Garcia, have you gotten anything yet on the Fentons or the kids who disappeared?" Reid asked.

"_Nothing on the Fentons, but I've narrowed down the list of kids,"_ Garcia replied over speaker phone.

"Well, we have a description of this last body for you." Hotch nodded to Rossi, who rattled off the information.

"_Alright, boys and girls, let me see what I can get you."_ There was a mass of clacking noises that followed as Garcia typed away. Finally, _"Well, that certainly __**did**__ cut out a lot of them, didn't it?"_

"Whaddaya have, baby girl?" Morgan asked.

"_The girl was most __**definitely**__ Samantha Manson. The boy clones must then have been of Tucker Foley, one of Manson's two friends. I'm not getting any hits on the other friend, though."_

"Throw the names Danny and Vlad into your search," Reid suggested.

" '_Kay, whatever you say. Genius knows best."_ There was a long pause, then, _"Genius certainly __**does**__ know best! Looks like Danny was the name of the Fenton boy. All the files on him were locked up by this guy Vladimir Masters. He was apparently an old college buddy of the Fentons, moved to and became mayor of Amity Park, and—get this—had some __**serious**__ love-hate goin' on with both of the ale Fentons. The only 'love' there coming from Jack, who, admittedly, isn't very bright."_

"Anything about Danny being connected to Manson and Foley?" Prentiss questioned.

"_Yes, indeed there is. The three of them were apparently inseparable. Well, until the day the Fentons were killed. Then, suddenly Danny's avoiding everyone, and Manson and Foley just let him."_

"Was there any investigation pointing to Masters as being responsible?" Hotch demanded.

"_No, but three guesses who started blaming Phantom for the Fentons' murders? And the first two don't count."_

"Masters," the team said together.

They could _hear_ Garcia's smirk. _"Damn, you guys are too good at this now…. Yes, Masters was the one who pointed the very first finger at Phantom. Apparently, there was bad blood there, too."_

"Is there anyone this guy _didn't_ piss off?" Morgan wondered.

"_Besides Jack Fenton? No. Oh, ho, and get this, Masters has a soft spot for Maddie Fenton. A __**very**__ soft spot. One that she absolutely __**refused**__ to indulge."_

"More power to her," Prentiss mumbled.

The rest of the team shared a look. "That would _definitely_ explain the regret," JJ stated.

"Alright, we've definitely got our unsub now. Thanks, baby girl."

"_Anytime, My Chocolate God."_

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"Danny, I'm going to ask you a series of yes or no questions, okay?" Rossi said.

Danny nodded absently, still looking at the floor.

"Alright. Is your full name Danny Fenton?"

"Yes." The boy didn't even seem surprised now.

"Are you from Amity Park?"

"Yes."

"Did you know the victims?"

"Yes," he murmured, voice cracking slightly.

"It's okay, you're doing very well. Were your friends two of the victims?"

"Yes."

"Were your parents and sister victims?"

"Yes."

"Do you know who killed them?"

Tears spilled out of his eyes in two small rivers. "Y—Yes," he whispered.

"Okay. Now, I'm going to ask you some open-ended questions. You don't have to answer if you don't want to, okay?"

The boy nodded once more.

"Right. How long have you been away from Amity Park?"

"Twenty months, give or take." The boy's voice had gone monotone, answering almost unconsciously.

"Why did you leave?"

"My parents and sister were supposedly dead, and my friends were gone, too."

"Who was blamed for it?"

"Phantom," the boy said bitterly.

"Who do _you_ think did it?"

Danny blinked up at him, shocked that he would ask that. "…Not Phantom."

"Who, Danny?"

The boy shook his head, refusing to speak.

"Danny, if you don't tell us who it is, we won't be able to stop him from killing someone else!"

Danny shook his head.

"Don't you _want_ to see him get locked away for what he's done?" Rossi stressed, trying to get the boy to respond.

The teen's head snapped up, glaring at him. "How do you know it's not a 'she'?"

"Our profile marks him as a male in his forties, narcissistic, rich, and possibly in love with your mother."

Danny snorted. "In other words, you know who it is but don't yet have a reasonable explanation for thinking it's him." At Rossi's dumbfounded look, he smirked, but it didn't reach his eyes. "I've been around him long enough to know how he works, Agent Rossi. I also know you won't be able to get him. No one ever does. Now, if you're done, I'd like to be leaving now." He stood, turning to the door.

Rossi tried to stop him. "Social Services will place you in a home until we determine—"

"If my parents are really alive?" The smirk fell from his face, replaced by a bitter look. "I've been on the run for almost two years, agent. I know how to avoid SS." Then he was out the door and gone.

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"A kid can't just disappear," Morgan complained. "There's gotta be some explanation!"

In the few short seconds it took for the team to realize what had happened, Danny had completely disappeared. But, he hadn't gone out the door, hadn't even been _seen._

Hotch turned on the chief of police. "We need to see your cameras."

The man was shocked. "W—What?"

"Our technical analyst can find out what happened if she checks the security cameras." Hotch used the no-nonsense tone that refused to take excuses.

"…Sure. But what do you expect to find?"

"How our only witness got away."

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"_Well, my duckies, there is a slightly reasonable explanation for why our little boy vanished. I'm sending you the video now."_

And suddenly they were looking at the hallway right as Danny exited the interrogation room. There was a split second of calm before a humanoid shape appeared behind him and spirited him away up and through the roof.

"What the—?" Morgan exclaimed while the rest gaped.

"G—Garcia, was that—?" Reid began.

"_Yes, sweet cheeks, that was Danny Phantom."_

Rossi reached forward and played the video back some, freezing it when there was a good image of Danny's face once Phantom lifted him away. "He looks glad," Rossi stated.

"Glad? With the way he acts, that's downright ecstatic!" Hotch declared, not noticing the looks his team was giving him.

Good thing, too. None of them wanted to explain the irony of _Hotch_ being the one to say that.

"So, he somewhat-reasonable disappeared?" JJ questioned.

"_Yes,"_ Garcia said succinctly.

Prentiss shook her head. "Something about this just isn't right…."

Hotch nodded. "Well, let's keep looking. You, too, Garcia."

"_Yes, sir, Mr. Bossman!"_

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Danny pulled the duplicate back into himself once he was far enough from the building. Then, he ran a hand through his hair, sighing angrily. "Good job, Fenton," he said bitterly, "now Social Services will be on your case!" He blinked, blushed, looked around, sighed. He put his head in his hands. "And now I'm talking to myself…. _Again._" He sighed heavily once more, then glanced about a bit better. "Well, might as well continue on my not-so-merry way. Staying in one place too long _always_ brings Vlad running." He was just beginning to turn around when he heard a voice from the opening of the alley he was in.

"Indeed it does, Daniel."

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A/N: Okay, and now I have carpal tunnel. -.-' Alright, so I'm gonna screw some with the ending now and hopefully get this thing cranked out soon so I can focus on other stories/school. …ugh, school….

Review, all!


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: You will all be glad to know that, besides the very last scene or so, I have a rough idea now of how this story will end. Now, I just need to write it out, which, thanks to a pre-calculus class that I can basically sleep through, is getting done a bit faster than I thought it would. Not that you should expect it to be finished within a month or so, but I will most likely have it done and posted before the fall, provided I don't hit too many snags.

Now, that being said, please enjoy this new chapter! And I'm sorry in advance for the ending…. -.-'

**WARNING: chapter contains rather extreme torture.**

Playlist for this chapter: Atreyu's "The Theft," Flyleaf's "I'm So Sick," and Breaking Benjamin's "Lights Out" and "Dear Agony." 'Cause that and the warning don't _totally_ give away what happens in this chapter….

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"Dammit, Hotch," Morgan was nearly yelling, "he's _gone!_ We've completely lost our only witness while the unsub's _still on the loose!_"

"Morgan," Hotch warned.

Prentiss called up Garcia, massaging her temples to relieve her growing headache. "_Please_ tell me you've got something!"

"_Oh, I've got something, alright, but you're not gonna like it."_

"What is it, Garcia?" JJ asked.

"_Vladdy dearest has been following our little boy. Plane tickets, rental car receipts, the guy made __**no**__ effort to hide his tracks. Last word was he's in D.C."_

"That's approximately thirty-four miles from here," Reid stated.

Morgan raised an eyebrow. "Approximately?"

"Well, depending on exactly where in D.C., it could be more or less, but—"

"What else, Garcia?" Rossi said, effectively cutting Reid off mid-lecture.

"_He just booked a plane ticket back to California."_

"For when?"

"_Next week. Monday."_

"Alright." Hotch stood, glancing around at his subordinates. "We have five days to find Masters _and_ Danny, or we'll never see _either_ of them again. Reid, you and Prentiss work on a geographical profile, see if you can find where Danny would go. Garcia and JJ, work together to find the connection between Danny and Phantom. Morgan, Rossi, and I will start searching for them. Reid, which was would Danny have gone?"

"East," Reid replied immediately.

"Alright. Morgan, Rossi, let's go."

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Danny let out a low groan as he was thrown against the wall of the alley. His head hit hard, and he felt himself black out for a moment. Suddenly, he was floating above it all, thankful and terrified at the same time that he was beginning to dissociate from what was going on. His body below him was limp, and he winced in sympathy when it was shaken against the wall, its head hitting again.

Vlad looked angry, livid that Danny refused to react. So he pulled out a cloth and pressed it against Danny's mouth and nose. The smell shocked Danny back into his body, and he weakly struggled before the chloroform took hold of him.

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"_Morgan, Rossi, did either of you find anything yet?"_ Hotch's voice demanded through the three-way call.

"_Nothing,"_ Rossi replied.

"Actually, Hotch, I've got somethin'," Morgan stated, bending down for a better look at the alley wall. "It's not much, though. Some blood, smells like chloroform, a few hairs in the blood. I'm bagging the blood and hair as we speak."

"_Where are you?"_ Hotch asked. When Morgan rattled off the street names, Hotch said, _"I'm on my way over."_

Sure enough, just a few minutes later Hotch was in the entrance to the alley. He covered his nose with a handkerchief. "They definitely were liberal with the chloroform."

Morgan nodded, holding up the bags of blood and hair. "We've gotta get these to the lab."

Hotch took a bag of hair and looked closely at it. "Black hair, longish. It probably was Danny."

"That much chloroform, he'll be out for a day at least. Who knows what could happen in that time?"

Hotch shook his head. "Our unsub wouldn't want to do anything unless he's conscious enough to feel it. We've got a day before Danny will be hurt."

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Prentiss nodded, thanked them, hung up. She turned to Reid. "Morgan found blood and hair, most likely Danny's. We need to get to work on that profile."

Reid nodded. "Where did he find the blood and hair?"

As Prentiss recited the address, Reid marked it on the map. "He _was_ heading east, but Masters got to him. Hey, JJ?"

The blonde glanced up at him. "Yeah, Spence?"

"Has Garcia found where Masters was staying?"

"Fancy hotel in D.C."

"_Au contraire,"_ Garcia called out from the phone. _"He's checked into a dingy motel with a young guest."_

"Where Garcia?" Reid demanded.

There was some typing, then, _"__**Now**__ he starts covering his tracks…. I can't get a real address, just look for a rundown motel about ten miles east from here."_

"Ten miles east…." Reid began marking the map again, drawing a sweeping arc ten scale miles from Quantico. The spot he'd marked earlier was about halfway between their office and the arc. Reid's brow furrowed as he frowned in thought. "Where were the last two bodies found?"

When he was given the two addresses and had marked them, he found the line connecting the three scenes. He traced it with a finger, then marked it. "…I need a bigger map…."

The others frowned, confused. "Why?" Prentiss asked.

"I need to know where all the other bodies were found."

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By the time Morgan, Hotch, and Rossi got back to the bureau, there were maps lined up everywhere. Reid was about halfway between Virginia and California, marking speedily where each body was found before connecting them to the line he had started in Virginia. There were also a collection of zigzagging dots around the line.

"What's going on?" Hotch asked, confused.

JJ and Prentiss glanced at him. "Reid's on some hunch about how the scenes line up or something," JJ said.

"What are all those dots for?" Rossi wondered.

"Things went missing before and slightly after the bodies were found," Reid stated.

"How're you supposed to know what's relevant?" Morgan asked. "Things go missin' all the time."

"Each of these found a note reading 'Sorry' after things went missing. They started just east of Amity Park about twenty months ago."

"That's Danny's trail," Hotch realized.

Reid nodded. "And the body is always found directly in the middle of each collection of dots. Masters always left the body in Danny's probable home at the time, like with the first body here."

"The line of bodies is completely straight," Rossi noted.

There was another quick nod from Reid. "More likely than not, Masters will stay directly on that line." Reid moved back to the Virginia section of the map, taking a ruler and drawing a straight line from where the bodies were found to the arc he drew earlier. "Masters should be in a motel around… here." He drew a circle around the intersection.

"Alright, we have about twelve hours to find him before the chloroform wears off and Masters does as he pleases. I want him found in five."

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Chloroform goes through ghosts much quicker than it does humans. Thus, it takes about three or four times as much to keep a halfa out of it, leading to Vlad's seeming over-use of the drug.

Danny had been awake for two hours already. In that time, he had attempted sitting up. When that failed, he rolled over on his side, just barely keeping the nausea at bay.

He was in a small motel room, alone. Vlad was toying with him. There was a plate of food on the table, and the door was open just a crack. The mere sight of the food made him nauseous, and the door just made him realize Vlad knew exactly how off-balance he would be. Plus, any attempt he made towards the exit would be heard immediately.

Vlad wasn't being careless, he was shoving his control in Danny's face.

The mattress groaned as Danny rolled onto his other side, causing him to wince and freeze for a few minutes. When no one came running in, he sighed in relief.

"Now, is that any way to treat your parents' old college buddy?"

Danny jumped and would've screamed if Vlad wasn't holding a hand (devoid of chloroform this time) over his mouth. Vlad flicked open his penknife, pushed Danny onto his stomach, slit open his shirt, and dug the knife into Danny's back.

His teeth came down hard on his tongue, keeping himself from giving Vlad the pleasure of hearing him scream. Instead, Danny lay there as Vlad carved his bloody message into his flesh rather than an alley wall.

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"_Guys, we have a problem,"_ Garcia's voice stated over the phone. They all noticed when it shook.

"What is it, Garcia?" Rossi asked calmly.

"_I did some more digging to try to find the motel, and Masters didn't just book the one. He's got them all over Virginia, all stating he's there with a companion."_

"Can you find out which one he's really in?" Hotch demanded.

"_As a smart guy once told me, finding a needle in a haystack would be easy. You're asking for a needle in a __**needlestack.**__"_

"So we have nothing to go on. _Again._" Prentiss sighed.

"_Not exactly. I've narrowed it down. There's four motels on Reid's line. I'm sending them to you now."_

"Okay, Prentiss and JJ will go to the first, Rossi and Reid to the second, Morgan take the third, and I'll get the fourth. Let's go."

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Danny had passed out long before, as Vlad was beating him after carving the words. When Vlad realized this, he dragged Danny by the hair to the dingy bathroom, pushed him into the tub, and turned the cold water on full blast. Danny woke, gasping, seconds later, and Vlad rewarded him by shoving his face into the water collecting in the bottom. He would wait until Danny's flailing slowed, then pull him back up so he could catch his breath before pushing him under again. Each time, the flailing was weaker, slower, until he stopped resisting entirely, hoping to die.

Then Vlad shut off the water. He grabbed Danny's hair again and pulled so the teen's face was forced up. His eyes, while half-closed, were still defiant, though they showed the beginnings of glazing over. The knife was once more in Vlad's hand, and he traced a small design into the side of the boy's neck. It showed a P inside a D.

Phantom's symbol.

Vlad lifted him, saying, "I think it's about time to find a place to drop you off." He grabbed Danny's arms, twisting them up painfully behind his back, and flew up through the ceiling, just as a knock came on the door.

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"FBI! Open up!"

Reid was honestly shocked that they received the warrants so fast, but he wasn't going to question it. He and Rossi decided to work their way out from the middle room, each taking one end of the hallway. All the rooms so far were empty, and Reid was worried this wasn't the right motel.

He unlocked the door he'd been knocking on with one of the two master keys the manager had given them.

The smell hit him as soon as the door opened. He subconsciously lifted his gun a bit higher as he entered, glancing about. The sight was worse, but one thing was for sure.

"Rossi! I found it!"

|23|) \/\/|-|!73 4|\||) |)34|)

A CSU was quickly on the scene, along with the rest of the team. Blood was splattered against one wall and a cot, and there was more blood in the bathroom and tub. All the blood was fresh, and they knew they had just missed their unsub.

Morgan traced a mark on the floor. "The kid was dragged from the cot to the bathroom." He moved into the other room and looked around. "There's water in the bottom of the tub, and more blood on the sides. He was dunked, several times, if the water around the tub is any indicator."

Hotch squatted by the cot and called over a CSI to photograph some hair so he could bag it. "He was dragged by his hair. He must have been stabbed, multiple times, then pulled across the floor and dunked in the tub."

"There's a possibility he was beaten, too," Prentiss added. She pointed to some blood patterns on the cot. "He was, at the very least, pushed deeper into the cot, over and over, very quickly."

Rossi frowned. "Why is this kid so important to Masters? We've _got_ to be missing something."

JJ's cell rang, and, with a glance at the caller ID, she put it on speaker. "Go, Garcia."

"_They found him,"_ the tech-analyst said succinctly.

"Where?" Reid demanded.

"_A—An alley about three miles from the motel you're at."_ She gave them the address, and Reid was out the door.

Morgan cursed loudly and followed him. Garcia, who had heard this, freaked out.

"_What happened? What's going on?"_

"Morgan and Reid are going to get Danny," Hotch said simply. "Tell us everything you can, Garcia."

"_There's not much. There was a 911 call made five minutes ago, and the hospital was close, so they got there quick. H—He was left there, bleeding. The—The EMT's can't move him. They're afraid because of any internal bleeding he might have. He's—He's in __**really**__ bad shape."_

"Thanks, Garcia. Let us know if anything changes."

"_Yes, sir."_

JJ hung up, glancing at Hotch. "Now what?"

"We need to see that alley."

|23|) \/\/|-|!73 4|\||) |)34|)

Vlad dropped Danny almost immediately after finding an abandoned alley. Danny in turn bemoaned the agony of landing on his—likely broken—arm. Vlad didn't let him stay there long.

His shirt tore further as he was dragged up by the collar. Vlad pulled out the knife again and jabbed it into Danny's stomach.

He tried to scream, but his throat would only allow a choking cough. The knife was slowly pulled out and reinserted five inches higher. Another cough and whimper escaped Danny's lips.

Vlad sneered at him. "You're _pathetic!_" he snarled. "No better than a dog! In fact, you're _less_ than a dog. Dogs are _welcomed_ creatures, _pets._ Who in their right mind would want _you?_ You're weak, _hated_. Your own _friends_ ran to _me_ to stay _away_ from you!"

"Y—You k—kidn—napped—"

Vlad harshly shook the teen. "They _came_ to me. You feed yourself those _lies_ to avoid the _truth!_ Your friends didn't _want_ you! Your family was the same."

"N—No."

"Your mother _knew_ what you were, and she couldn't _stand_ it. She asked me, _begged_ me to stage their deaths so they wouldn't have to deal with _you!_"

"No…." Each breath was getting weaker.

"They all _left _you, Daniel. They left you for _me._" Vlad dragged the knife out, holding it up before Danny's eyes. "You know, wanted dogs get neutered. Maybe…." He lowered the knife and positioned it at Danny's hip. "Maybe they'd want you if you were neutered, too."

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A/N: I _still_ have no idea where that last paragraph came from. I think Vlad just totally lost it and dragged the story along with him. Also, let me know if there were any typos. My e and i keys have been uber-touchy, and my l key is the opposite. I need a new keyboard…. T.T

Anyway, I'm off to write up the penultimate chapter (hopefully). Please review!


	6. Chapter 6

A/N: Okay, sorry for the suspense, all! You'll be glad to hear I'm officially an epic fight and epilogue away from writing the end of this story! Which means, Lord willing, it'll all be up soon! However, there will probably be some delay between the end of this and posting the sequel, since I kind of need ideas for spy gadgets. Please send in ideas if you come up with them! Only rules are, they need to be disguised as something a teenage boy would carry and they can't be lethal. Just give it a name, tell me how it works, and if I use it, you'll get full credit and honors when it comes up in the sequel!

On with the fic!

Playlist for this chapter: Trapt's "Use Me to Use You," Crush 40's "I Am (All of Me)," and Three Days Grace's "Pain."

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The teen twitched fitfully in his sleep, eyes flickering quickly back and forth. Reid and Morgan looked on, unable to help.

"What's wrong with him?" Reid demanded of any EMT passing by.

Most ignored him. One finally stopped to say, "He's reliving the stress. Probably will encounter some problems with PTSD." Then he rushed off again.

Reid turned to Morgan, who shrugged. They both glanced about, noticing what was missing. "Where's the message?"

The EMTs were suddenly rushing around as Danny spasmed and thrashed, almost knocking away the blanket covering him. It took four people to hold the boy down and a fifth injected him with something.

"Pain killers?" Morgan asked quietly.

One of the men holding Danny nodded. "Mixed with a relaxant. This is the third dose we've had to give him."

"High resistance?"

Another EMT shook his head. "There aren't any signs of him ever using, no marks, no obvious health issues…."

"Some sort of natural immunity," Reid whispered, arms folded across his chest, one hand unconsciously stroking the inside of his elbow. He shook his head when he noticed what he was doing. He'd been clean for a good two years, and dammit, he was gonna _stay_ clean.

The EMT who had dosed Danny nodded. "That's quite likely. Do either of you know of a way to contact his parents or guardian?"

"As far as we know, he doesn't have any."

The EMT pursed his lips. "He has no emergency contact?"

Morgan's eyes narrowed slightly. "He has us."

The EMT stared them down, attempting to change their minds. When he saw this fail, he sighed and nodded. "Fine. Our John Doe—"

"Danny."

"_Danny_, then. The point is, he's very badly injured. He's been stabbed multiple times, beaten. There are bruises all over his body…."

"Can we see the stab pattern?" Morgan requested. "We can often identify the unsub from patterns like that."

The EMT winced. "You won't like it. When I said 'stabbed multiple times,' I really meant—"

Reid cautiously pulled the blanket away from Danny. He heard Morgan's sharp inhalation when he saw the teen's body.

His shirt was gone, exposing his body and the markings covering it. Words had been carved all over his body.

"Well," Morgan said softly, "there's your message…."

Reid nodded weakly, reading it.

'_I'll kill them __**all.**__ I'll make you __**watch**__ as I torture those you love, those who __**left**__ you. Then I __**might**__ put you out of your misery.'_

Then, Reid noticed the mark on the teen's neck. "Morgan, this symbol…."

"What about it?"

"It's _Phantom's symbol!_"

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"_Alright, my G-Men, Masters has checked himself back into his swanky hotel. All we need is for Danny to say it's him,"_ Garcia nearly sang.

"He's in no condition to make _any_ claims," Morgan stated angrily.

"Garcia, can you look up some stuff on both Phantom and Danny for me?" Reid asked.

"_Sure, sweet cheeks, whaddaya need?"_

"The exact dates that Phantom and Danny went missing. Also, when Phantom first was sighted and anything that happened to Danny up to three months before that."

"_I'm on it."_

"You've got an idea, Reid?" Hotch asked.

"A hunch. Depending on what Garcia pulls, I might have figured out the connection between those two."

Hotch nodded, turned to Morgan. "Tell me how he is."

Morgan sighed. "They're stitching up what they can, but there'll definitely be scars. He's got a broken arm, fractured ankle, concussion. He was in the OR for a while to make sure they stopped the internal bleeding and did as much as they could for the head trauma. One of the cuts they were most worried about went directly across from one hip to the other, barely missing a certain sensitive body part." Morgan seemed a little green.

Prentiss and JJ winced. Even Rossi and Hotch seemed nauseous. "Any ideas on recovery time?" Rossi wondered.

"They're not sure. As of right now, he still hasn't regained consciousness, and they've given him nearly four times the average dosage of pain meds. They don't seem to stay in effect for very long."

"_More pressing issue, here,"_ Garcia called out. _"Dr. Spencer Reid has done it again. Danny and Phantom disappeared on the same day. Times vary slightly, but they both just vanished. As to your other inquiry, Phantom first showed up about two and a half years ago. A month into Danny's freshman year was when Phantom began to be noticed, along with the other ghosts. They apparently came through some ghost portal made by the Fenton adults. There's a small report about it having not worked at first, then suddenly it was fully operational, and Danny was sent to the hospital for being electrocuted."_

Most of the team shared confused looks while Reid simply nodded. "What materials were used to make the portal?"

"_Mostly electricity and something called ectoplasm."_

"Masters was an old college buddy, right? Check on any similar accidents during college."

"_Okay,"_ Garcia said, sounding skeptical. A few minutes later, she gasped. _"Oh my God, Reid, how do you __**do**__ that?"_

"What does it say?" he asked instead.

"_An accident with something called a Proto-Portal that landed Masters in the hospital with ecto-acne. He somehow got a faceful of that ectoplasm stuff. Which, by the way, looks totally squicky."_

"One last thing, Garcia. Check into where Masters used to live. See if there were any reports of a ghost there."

Another short wait, then, _"Yes. A Dairy King, and something called the Wisconsin Ghost or Plasmius."_

"And are there any records of Phantom and this ghost meeting?"

"_Several. None of them good for Phantom. They fought a lot, mostly ending with Phantom hurt or in Plasmius' clutches."_

"More bad blood," JJ noted.

"Anything on a first name for Plasmius?"

"_Phantom's been heard to call him… oh my God… __**Vlad.**__"_

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Danny woke up screaming, thrashing against the restraints that kept him on the bed. Several of the new stitches pulled, the smaller, unstitched cuts reopened. He couldn't move, which panicked him even more, and he kicked at the bottom of the bed he was on. This caused his fractured ankle to twist more, and he screamed again.

Nurses and doctors flooded his room, rushing about to calm him and make sure he hadn't injured himself further. One doctor reset and immobilized his ankle. A nurse gave him a calming drug—not one to knock him out, just to make him calmer.

His main doctor sat down next to him. "You gave everyone a big scare," the doctor stated quietly, hoping to use her voice to calm him even more. "Your friends in the BAU were very worried. One of them, the tall, skinny one, even offered to pay your hospital bill if your parents couldn't."

"They can't," Danny rasped. His throat was sore and scratchy from misuse.

"We really need to know as much as we can about you, to help you."

"I need to talk with Reid," Danny murmured.

"Ah, who?"

He took a guess. "The one who said he'd pay my bill."

The doctor forced a smile and nodded to a nurse, who quickly left. "We're going to call him now. Is there anything else you'd like?"

"Water?"

The doctor didn't have to force a smile this time. It came easily when she saw the hopeful, almost pouting look on his face. She patted the less injured of his hands, not knowing that his body was rapidly repairing itself without any help. "Of course, dear."

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"Reid, what exactly does all this mean?" Hotch asked.

Reid shook his head. "I'd have to check with Danny to make sure, but—"

A ringing cell phone interrupted him, causing him to blink. He pulled his phone from his bag and answered it. "Hello? …Ah, I see. …Yes, I'll be right there. …Thank you, bye." He closed the phone and looked up at Hotch. "He's awake."

"Great, we can all—" Rossi began.

"He asked to speak with me."

Hotch nodded, knowing Reid wanted to speak to him alone. "Have Morgan drive you."

Reid, knowing it was the only way he'd be allowed to go, agreed.

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"Dr. Reid is here for you," a nurse said to Danny.

He'd managed to convince them to sit up the bed and take off most of the restraints. His stomach and broken arm were still strapped down. "Should I bring him in?"

Still sipping greedily from the cup of water he'd been brought, Danny nodded.

The nurse smiled, left, and quickly came back with Reid. "I'll let you two talk, but visiting hours end at four." She left once more.

Reid sat by Danny's bed. "What did you want to talk about?"

Danny put down his water, coughed once, and sighed. "How much do you know?"

Reid wasn't too surprised by the question. "Not much. I only began to figure it out because of the symbol."

Danny nodded, fingers twitching to rub at the mark. "Everyone at home only found out when Vlad told them."

"How exactly did it happen, though? I mean, I know it had something to do with the accident with the portal, but I'm confused as to how it would do anything."

"You and me both. Apparently, the ectoplasm got infused with my DNA."

Reid blinked. "But, that would only happen if—"

"I was inside when it turned on."

This admission made them both pause for a moment. Finally, the full meaning seemed to sink in for Reid. "So, how did the ecto-acne make Vlad become Plasmius?"

Danny's eyebrows shot up, and Reid realized this was probably the first time he'd seen the boy honestly surprised. "You really _have_ done your research, haven't you?" He sighed. "I don't know what happened with Vlad. He was staring at the Proto-Portal, it turned on, and ectoplasm was launched at his face. Unless it was overly concentrated ectoplasm, he shouldn't have changed."

Reid's brow furrowed. "How do you know that?"

"My friends and sister have been hit with ectoplasm before, many times. They never became half-ghost."

Reid shook his head to bring himself back to the main topic. "Back to your case. You were electrocuted, too, right? Shouldn't that have killed you?"

Danny smirked slyly. "Technically, it did. At least, partially."

"Why is Vlad after you?"

Danny sobered. "Ghosts have an obsession. Even half-ghosts. For Vlad, it was my mom, but I wouldn't let him have her. So his obsession switched. Now, it's me. Only he wants me dead."

"What's yours? Your obsession?"

Danny went quiet. For a long time, Reid thought he wouldn't answer, then, "F—For a while, I thought it was protecting my town, but then I realized it was more. I was protecting my town because my obsession was in it. But now… now, she's dead."

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A/N: Okay, before y'all kill me, yes, I know that was shorter than most. It's the shortest chapter in this story with the possible exception of the epilogue, whenever that gets written, lolz. Anywayz, please send gadget ideas and review!


	7. Chapter 7

A/N: Hi. So, again, please vote in the poll on my profile and continue sending in gadget ideas! There are lots of creative people reading!

Also, the ending of this chapter marks where I got stuck on this story for about a year and a half (yay…). You'll all be pleased to know that this also marks what I believe is the _halfway point_ in this story. For some strange reason, the final battle and all its lead-in and aftermath keep getting longer and longer. I believe that there will be about five chapters and an epilogue after this, provided nothing else decides to add itself in.

So, enjoy!

Playlist for this chapter: Breaking Benjamin's "Fade Away," My Chemical Romance's "I'm Not Okay (I Promise)," and Flyleaf's "Again."

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Reid blinked. "That last—Samantha Manson was your—?"

"Her name is Sam," Danny snapped.

"Sam. She was your obsession?"

"Is."

Reid's brow furrowed. "Why hasn't your obsession changed?"

Danny glared. "Because I haven't given up on her."

"Why?"

And so, Danny found himself explaining what she had said before she died. "I have to save them. _All_ of them." He glared down at himself, as though he could see the words written on his chest through the sheets. "Even if they don't want me to," he murmured.

Reid knew he wasn't supposed to hear that. "What was that?"

"Nothing."

"Danny…."

"It's _nothing_, okay?" He glanced down again, muttering, "Just—Just save them, if I can't."

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The nurses quickly threw Reid out after Danny went silent, saying he was "disturbing the patient." Morgan seemed to understand that now was _not_ the time to joke. They drove back to the office listening to the radio. After pulling in and shutting off the car, Morgan turned to Reid.

"I know a lot of that was personal, but is there _anything_ you _can_ tell us?"

Reid thought back to Danny's attitude during their conversation. "I get the feeling that I can say whatever I want."

Morgan frowned. "Kid's been secretive 'til now. What changed?"

Reid thought a moment, then glanced back up. "Masters attacked _him_."

Morgan blinked. "So?"

"Something that Masters did or said has changed Danny's outlook. He—He told me that I needed to save his friends and family if he couldn't. It was like…." Reid trailed off, staring straight ahead.

"…Like what?"

Reid blinked and shook his head to clear it. "Like he _knew_ he wouldn't be able to."

"Wait, are we still talking about what he said _today?_"

"Morgan, we need to have hospital security check in on him. A _lot._"

"_Why?_"

"I think there's a chance he could try to suicide."

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A nurse nodded as she wrote down what the man on the phone was saying. "Of course, Dr. Reid. …Mmhm, someone's checking on him now. …Oh, no, we take suicide risks _very_ seriously, don't you wor—"

A sudden, blaring siren cut her off. She glanced around as the man on the phone panicked. "Hold on a moment, sir." She covered the speaker on the phone, waving someone over. "Who pulled the alarm?" she hissed. "Which room?"

"Room 525. A guard pulled it."

The nurse let the orderly go, pulling the phone back up and nibbling on her lip. "I—I'm sorry, sir, I'll have to call you again in a moment. …There's been an, um, emergency." He urgently asked what happened. "I'm not too sure, but it involves the young man in room 525." The man was frantic once more. "I'm sorry, sir, but I have to go. …Yes, of course. …Yes, sir, I'll let you know. Good-bye." She tossed the phone and joined the mass of nurses and doctors rushing to room 525.

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Morgan had watched Reid during the call. He'd seen those emotions that flickered across the genius' face. Authority, worry, panic, frustration, anxiety, and finally a tense calm that he didn't trust for a second. When he hung up, his back was rigid.

"Reid?" Morgan tried cautiously.

"We need to get back to the hospital. _Now._"

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"What's going on?"

"He's bleeding out!"

"Where'd he get a knife blade?"

The boy was resting calmly in a pool of red, a blade in his broken hand. The restraints had been cut, and thin lines traced all the way up his left arm. None of the cuts were large enough for stitches, and the doctors were doing all they could to wrap them before the teen lost any more blood.

The nurse who had spoken with Reid watched the scene unfold. Something was seriously wrong with this.

She just couldn't figure out what.

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As Morgan spun into a parking spot, Reid jumped out of the car. Morgan was right behind him. They rushed into the wing Danny was in, demanding to know what had happened.

The nurse Reid had spoken with pulled them off to the side. "He has cuts all down his left arm, and we found him with a blade in his hand."

Reid's brow furrowed. "He didn't have anything when I was in there."

"Exactly. Something isn't right about this. He'd been in the OR for hours, there was no way or place for him to hide it."

"Someone set this up to look like a suicide," Morgan stated. "They probably weren't expecting us to call him out as a risk."

The nurse blinked up at him. "But, he's only a child! Who would _do_ something like that?"

"The only one who can benefit from Danny being dead. The person who put him here in the first place."

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"Garcia, call Hotch and tell him to pick Masters up," Reid demanded, hanging tightly on to his seat as Morgan drove wildly.

"_Okay, may I ask why?"_

"We need to put together enough proof to arrest him. He just tried to make it look like Danny suicided."

She gasped. _"Y—You mean, he's—?"_

"No, they got to him in time. But it was a close call."

She exhaled. _"Oh, thank God…. Now, don't you worry, Boy Genius, I'll get the team together faster than you can say 'lickety-split.'"_

Reid's brow furrowed. "Why would I say—?"

She had already hung up.

"What'd she say?" Morgan asked.

"She said she'd get the team together faster than I could say 'lickety-split,' but why would I—?"

Morgan chuckled. "It's a _saying_, kid. You're not really supposed to say it."

Reid blushed.

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"Danny's stable, for now," Morgan stated to JJ, Rossi, and Prentiss. Garcia and Hotch were both on speaker phone since the former was in her bunker and the latter was en route to Masters' hotel. "They've sent Garcia the security footage."

"_Which is __**very**__ trippy, by the way,"_ Garcia called over her line.

"What do you mean?" Rossi questioned.

"_Well, the footage never shows another person, or even the knife! At least, not until the end."_

"You got a picture of them?"

"_No person, but the knife…."_

"Garcia?"

"_Let me put it this way. The vids show the restraints being cut, the lines on Danny's arm appearing, but no knife until one is placed in Danny's hand."_

"It was a ghost," Reid gasped. Then he blinked and shook his head, realizing exactly how strange that sounded coming from him. "O—Or at the very least, _half_ of one."

"_Our resident genius has a point. The hospital has some thermal sensors in the high-risk rooms. They show two forms in Danny's room, but both are colder than the average person."_

"Why?" Prentiss wondered.

Reid sighed. "I was figuring it out before I went to the hospital, but Danny confirmed it. Danny and Phantom are the same person."

The team all blinked at him, and from the line connected to Hotch, they heard the car swerve before he regained control. _"What?"_ he demanded.

"He's half-ghost, strange as it sounds. And so is Masters."

Morgan cursed. "Then how're we supposed to _catch_ him?"

"Um, we could help," a new voice said from behind them.

The team spun to face two teens, one about Danny's age and the other a couple years younger. The older girl wore a black and red full body suit made of some sort of lightweight armor and a visor mask that was currently up, showing off her green eyes. The younger wore a black and white belly shirt and pants with gloves and boots and a purple backpack slung over one shoulder. She also had green eyes, but more of a neon shade than the other girl's emerald, and her hair was bright white and held in a ponytail.

"And you two are?" Rossi demanded, an eyebrow raised.

"Valerie Grey," the elder replied, "and—"

"Danielle Phantom." The younger girl slid her backpack off as she spoke. "We know about Masters."

"Everything?" Reid asked, surprised.

"Everything from him being Plasmius to his bad habit of cloning people," Danielle declared, hands on hips. "After all, he cloned _me_ from Danny."

Now, several of the team were staring in disbelief as Hotch muttered that he was on his way back. "Clone?" Morgan finally asked.

Danielle blushed. "I never said I was entirely _successful_ as a clone. Basically, Vlad attempted to make a perfect clone of Danny, but he needed Danny's _exact_ mid-morph DNA in order to stabilize said clone. He used us failures to force Danny to change so he could get that piece. Without the mid-morph DNA, our ghost sides would overpower and destroy our human sides, causing the human side to die and the ghost side to melt down without the human 'item' to shape it."

"…What?" Reid stammered. The team gaped at the fact that _someone stumped Reid_.

"Hm, well, most ghosts have a human 'item' that they use to stabilize and shape their ghost bodies, otherwise they're just ectoplasmic blobs, like the weakest of ghosts. For instance, half-ghosts have their human sides. Skulker, a hunter, had the ectoskeleton and weapons he used while alive, Technus has, well, his technology…."

"Ember has her guitar," Valerie continued. "And Walker has his rule book. The human item they're shaped around can also determine what powers they'll develop."

As the team attempted to absorb that information, Rossi asked, "How did you two know we knew Danny?"

"We've been following him," Valerie responded, "ever since he left. And it hasn't been easy, let me tell you. This is actually the first time we've caught up to him."

"We know where Masters is keeping the Fentons, Sam, Tuck, and the clones. We can help you rescue them, and we've got weapons that can affect ghosts and half-ghosts." Danielle rummaged through her backpack, pulling out several silver guns, a few batons, a fishing rod, and three thermoses as Hotch rushed in, looking rather harried from his drive over. She passed out the items to the team, keeping a thermos for herself and giving up on untangling the fishing rod line. "Why he _ever_ made this stupid thing, I'll never know," she sighed, rolling her eyes and stuffing the rod back into her backpack.

"Um," Reid stuttered, "d—don't you two need weapons, too?"

"Oh, we've got ours," Valerie replied. "My suit is equipped with everything I need, and Danielle just needs a Thermos."

"How do we work these?" Prentiss asked, studying the gun she'd been given.

"Same as a regular gun, but it takes a little time to charge," Danielle explained. "The batons can lengthen into staves or I guess light sabers is more correct, since they project almost two feet of ectoplasm on either side." She mimed twisting the baton, an action that Morgan mimicked with his own baton.

Six eyes went wide as a green beam extended from each end of the metal handle. Morgan took a few swings with it, then twisted again to dismiss the beams.

"_Alright," _Garcia's voice complained over the phone, _"what cool stuff am I missing __**now?**__"_

Morgan grinned. "Come on up, baby girl, I think you'd like to see this."

"_See what?"_

"How we're gonna get Masters."

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A/N: Yeah, so basically from where Danielle and Val come in on was only written a month or two ago. Raise your hands, who saw those two coming in to help out? …Yeah, neither did I.

Anywayz, please remember to vote in the poll and send in gadget ideas! And please review!


	8. Chapter 8

A/N: Hey. So, again, vote for Alex Rider characters and send gadget ideas please!

In other news, I've officially written out all of Red White and Dead. After this chapter, there are four more and an epilogue left. Also, I've started writing the sequel to this, which I'm totally psyched to work on. I just have no idea how I'm gonna categorize it when I go to post it. Oh, well, I'll figure that out later.

Thirdly, this is a warning. **After this week, I'm not sure how often I'll be able to post anything.** I'm starting my second summer course next week, and it's 1) a longer class, 2) four days a week, and 3) chemistry, which I kinda just barely scrape by in. And I can't afford to do poorly in this class or I lose my scholarship. So, as such, I probably won't be on much for the next month. :( Sorry!

Last but not least, I apologize in advance for this cliffhanger.

Playlist for this chapter: Evanescence's "Whisper," Breaking Benjamin's "Into the Nothing," and Nickelback's "If Everyone Cared."

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The team stood around Valerie and Danielle after leading them to the indoor shooting range. Val had pulled one of those fancy silver guns—with red designs instead of green—and fiddled with it for a moment before it began humming. A slight glow came off the red designs, steadily increasing in brightness as the humming got louder and higher pitch.

Danielle grinned around at them. "This is the charging state for the ecto-guns. You _can_ shoot during the charging, but the blast will be weaker. The best thing to do is space out your blasts so one of you is shooting at all times. That way, you're not a sitting duck while the gun charges."

Here, Val took over, raising her voice some to be heard over the whine. "These things _can_ overheat, though, so you shouldn't have them charge too long. You'll feel the burn before it'll be in any danger of blowing, just try not to wear gloves using these. To fire a blast, you simply aim and pull the trigger—"

"Wait," Morgan interrupted just as Val was getting ready to fire, "you keep saying 'blast.' Don't you mean bullet?"

Danielle and Val smirked. "Nope."

Then Val fired, proving them right as a bright pink glob of energy was launched out of the barrel. It struck the paper cutout, incinerating it on contact. Val turned back to them, resting the muzzle of the gun on her shoulder. "Also, the blasts are made up of ectoplasm and heat energy."

Danielle's grin turned feral. "Your turn."

|23|) \/\/|-|!73 4|\||) |)34|)

"Danny?" The nurse's voice barely registered with him. He couldn't even feel his own body as the nurse moved his arms to rebandage them and his torso. He didn't notice her leave, either.

Instead, he merely lay there, unable to focus on anything but his racing thoughts. His head was full of images of his friends and family, dead and bloody, of the messages Vlad left on the walls and his body, of Sam's last words before she died.

He flinched, hands coming up to claw into his hair as the memory of that day reappeared. He watched as his mind replayed that day, Vlad bursting into life behind his closed eyelids.

Gone were the smells and sounds of the hospital. All he could hear were Vlad and Spectra's taunts. All he could smell was the blood that ran from the cuts, scrapes, wounds on Sam's body. All he could feel were the restraints that kept him, again, from saving her.

All he could see were those lifeless purple eyes, dead even before her last breath.

He shivered, feeling Spectra's fingers dancing along his arms once more as Vlad—

He winced, shaking his head to avoid those images. Now, instead he was being forced to dig his hand into Sam's wounds, feeling the warmth of blood and vital organs swarming around him. His hand pressed up against her stomach with a sickening, squelching sound as the blood sunk into his skin. He could practically _feel_ the red ooze becoming permanently infused with his flesh—

He violently shook his head once more, banishing that memory and instead allowing another to take over.

_Your own __**friends**__ ran to __**me**__ to stay __**away**__ from you!_

Danny whimpered, digging his nails into his scalp. "No…."

_They __**came**__ to me…. Yours friends didn't __**want**__ you! Your family was the same._

He could feel the tears welling up in his eyes, but he bit them back, refusing to let Vlad win again. He shook his head, but this time the vision refused to change.

Vlad laughed at him. _Your mother __**knew**__ what you were, and she couldn't __**stand**__ it! She asked me, __**begged**__ me to stage their deaths so they wouldn't have to deal with __**you!**_

His whole body was convulsing from forcing back his sobs. The twitching pulled at the cuts across his back and chest. Pain wracked his body from the torn stitches, but he was too far gone in the memory to notice as the heart monitor beside him started beeping frantically.

_They all __**left**__ you, Daniel. They left you for __**me…**__.. Maybe… maybe they'd want you if you were neutered…._

Danny flinched back, reliving the pain of the knife flashing across his hips. He shook even as Vlad's last words to him echoed back.

_Then again… it's too late to get them back, isn't it? After all, you've __**let**__ them all die, over and over. You couldn't even save the one you __**loved!**__ Face it, Daniel, you've failed them __**all**__, and __**I'm**__ the one they turned to for help. They'll __**never**__ take you back, so why even __**bother?**_

|23|) \/\/|-|!73 4|\||) |)34|)

"Alright, now how exactly do we find the Fentons, Manson, and Foley?" Hotch inquired of the two girls.

They shared a glance. "They'll all be in a rented-out warehouse with at least four rooms," Danielle replied succinctly, grabbing a blank page and sketching the layout as she explained. "There'll be three or four rooms surrounding the middle room. The doors leading into the warehouse will be left unguarded, but there will be ghosts—_full_ ghosts—stationed in each of the outer rooms. Vlad will be staying in the middle room."

"Woah, woah, woah, wait!" Morgan exclaimed. He shared a quick look with the rest of his team, then lifted an eyebrow at the girls. "Masters is staying in some fancy hotel, not a warehouse!"

Val shook her head as Danielle sighed. "That's what he _wants_ you to think," Val stated. "He's _half-ghost_. He makes sure he's seen going into his room at night and coming out in the morning, but once he's in the room, he flies off to the warehouse."

"How can he have a warehouse waiting for him if he doesn't know where Danny will end up?" Rossi asked.

"Besides the fact that Danny's been heading due east this whole time?" Danielle stated bluntly. "He's an international businessman. He has warehouses _everywhere._ The real question has always been 'how does Vlad _move_ all of them?'"

"We finally figured it out a month or two back," Val continued. "It was actually stupidly simple once we remembered about all his businesses. After all, no one's gonna think anything of a huge truck travelling cross-country filled with some bigshot company's latest 'product.'"

The BAU team collectively blinked, then Rossi jabbed at the button to call Garcia.

"_Duckies, I'm already __**on**__ the phone,"_ she cheekily declared. Rossi sputtered, and she giggled. _"I'm searching for which company trucks have spent two years trekking the country."_

"They'll be linked to either DALV Co, MastersCorp, or Axion Labs," Danielle added.

"_Well, well, I certainly won't be buying MastersCorp's newest laptop now, will I?"_ Garcia huffed in annoyance. _"It looked really awesome, too…."_

"Garcia?" Hotch prodded. The two teen girls were chuckling at Garcia's whining.

"_Sorry, sorry…."_ Some frantic typing met their ears, then, _"The truck belongs to a small delivery company, CanShipQuick."_

"Anything else?" Reid questioned quickly.

"_Patience, Grasshopper."_ A few more taps at her keys, and Garcia was rattling off a license plate number.

JJ and Prentiss got up to let the local PD know about the truck.

"Thanks, baby girl," Morgan said, sighing in relief.

"_Anytime, sugar. Also, I can't find a name for the driver of that truck."_

"You won't," Val explained. "The driver will have been one of Vlad's ghost lackeys. He wouldn't trust a human not to rat him out."

Danielle nodded. "Most likely, he'd have one ghost driving and at least two in the back to keep the hostages (and clones) in check." She and Val shared a look. "We should plan to be facing six ghosts minimum, then Vlad…."

"No," Val argued. "He'd have the same three guarding in the truck and at the warehouse. Six workers is too many for him, unless they're mindless."

Danielle granted Val the point, then returned to explaining her crudely drawn layout. "He'll have the clones in with the originals to confuse any potential rescuers. Jack, Jazz, and Tucker will be in one room, Maddie in another, and Sam in the third. If there's a fourth outer room, he'll move Jack into it. Maddie will be the most heavily guarded, then Sam, then the last three." Danielle rolled her eyes. "Vlad continues to underestimate Jack, just out of habit, but he _knows_ Maddie's a threat. Sam, Jazz, and Tucker can also be dangerous, but Jazz inherited Jack's aim and Tucker can be a klutz."

"Any idea what ghosts he'll have guarding the place?" Morgan asked, hoping for _anything_ to help them prepare.

"Well… Skulker usually is Vlad's errand boy, and he'll call on Technus to help out," Val replied. "The third…. It might be Ember, the Fright Knight, or Walker, but I really have no idea." She shrugged. "Sorry."

Danielle bit her lip. "Fright Knight's sealed away, so it wouldn't be him. Walker hates half-ghosts, so I really can't see him going along with this, even to get back at Danny. Ember's too free-willed to listen to anyone…. Wait." Her eyes went wide, and she turned to Val. "Vlad's focusing on _psychologically_ destroying Danny, right?"

"Yeah…?" Val answered, not catching on yet.

"Which ghost _feeds_ on emotional turmoil?"

Now Val's eyes were wide. "Spectra! Of _course!_ She's the third, so if there's a fourth—"

"It'll be her snarky little assistant." Danielle turned back to the BAU team. "We can tell you some about each of these ghosts and break down into groups of who'd do best against each."

Hotch nodded along with her logic. "One more thing. You said earlier that the hostages and clones will be held together."

"Yes?"

"How would we tell them apart, or will we have to check all their necks for the serial numbers?"

Danielle and Val refused to meet anyone's eyes. "…Th—There's ways," Danielle said quietly.

"How?"

"I told you earlier about the failed half-ghost clones. The reason the clones of the Fentons, Sam, and Tucker were successful is because they're simpler. The clones of Danny were supposed to be able to change between forms, look exactly the same, have life, and have sophisticated thoughts. The A.I. he put into me and my… siblings," she winced at the word, "would enable us to actually mentally function on a higher plane than Danny did at the time. Vlad also wanted us to look and feel alive and not like zombies or robots. He put a lot of effort into skin condition, hair sheen, and, most of all, the reflective quality of eyes. He wanted our eyes to have the same kind of light that is in all living beings."

She sighed. "He didn't care so much about capability of thought or looking happy and alive in these clones, so they were much simpler to make. Besides, it was, in a way, a tell that he is, _very_ deep down, still human since he couldn't kill a clone that still had that light, that hope in their eyes."

"The only problem," Val continued, "is that we can't know for sure that the Fentons, Sam, and Tuck haven't given up on a rescue. If they have, or if they've lost the will to live, we may not be able to tell them apart."

Hotch sighed, leaning forward with his hands steepled. "And we have just over a day before Vlad's flight takes off…."

Danielle's head snapped up to stare at Hotch. "Wait, _what?_ You never said we were working with a timeframe!"

"Yeah," Morgan stated, "Masters booked a flight back to Amity Park for tomorrow."

"Aw, crap…. Okay, here's what we'll do, then. We'll break you guys into three groups based on who will fight each ghost. We won't have as much time as I hoped, but Val and I can go over each ghost's weaknesses. We'll just have to hope that's enou—"

"_Um, g—guys?"_

All eight turned to the phone. "Yeah, Garcia?" Rossi asked, an eyebrow raised in wonder at the reason behind the call.

"_W—We just got a message f—from the hospital. It's f—for Reid."_

"What is it, baby girl?" Morgan prodded. Reid had paled dramatically, unable to speak.

"_They were called in a little while ago for an emergency. D—Danny was having a—a heart attack."_ Her voice sped up, getting steadily higher in pitch. _"They said it was due to complications from all the wounds, along with what looks like either a panic attack or seizure and they did all they could b—but they couldn't bring him back."_ The last few words were spoken at a whisper, as though Garcia could barely bring herself to admit it.

The group stared in shock at the phone. "Garcia," Hotch said quietly, "what are you saying?"

She burst into tears. _"D—Danny died, just a few minutes ago!"_

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A/N: …that chapter looked a lot longer in my notebook….

Anyways, sorry about that cliffhanger again, and please vote/send ideas! Here's to hoping I'll be able to post throughout July! Read and review, please!


	9. Chapter 9

A/N: So I felt horrible about that cliffhanger. Not sure how long this'll actually take for me to type up, but hopefully I can post it before my next class starts on Monday….

By the way, I set up a playlist for each of the previous chapters, so if anyone wants to go back and reread, you've got a nice set of songs that go along with each chapter. If anyone has suggestions for songs that would work for any chapter, send the artist and song title in a review or private message and I'll check it out and add it. For this chapter, Breaking Benjamin's "Anthem of the Angels," Rise Against's "Rumors of My Demise Have Been Greatly Exaggerated," Shinedown's "Heroes," and Thousand Foot Krutch's "Smack Down" are suggested.

|23|) \/\/|-|!73 4|\||) |)34|)

Danielle and Valerie hugged each other, both crying, the younger girl with her face buried into Val's shoulder. JJ and Prentiss were teary-eyed but fought it, trying to focus on Hotch and Rossi as they thought out what needed to be done next. Garcia had shut off the phone so no one else would hear her sobbing.

Meanwhile, Morgan was attempting to pull Reid out of the funk he'd fallen into. "Hey, Pretty Boy, c'mon, we need that big brain of yours." Morgan searched Reid's pale face, not getting a reaction of any kind. "C'mon, we need you to help us plan how to catch this bastard!"

Reid blinked, glancing up at Morgan. "He's not dead."

Morgan closed his eyes, gritting his teeth. "Look, Reid, we can deal with that _after_ we get Masters—!"

"No, I—I mean, he's half-_ghost_, Morgan. H—He could've…." Reid turned to the two teenagers. "Danielle."

The girl peeked up at him. "What?" she mumbled, voice thick from crying.

"Is it possible for a half-ghost to stop or pause their bodily functions? L—Like breathing and heartbeat?"

Danielle (and everyone else) stared at him in shock. Then, she blinked. "I—I don't know," she breathed. "I—I've never tried it…."

Reid turned back to Morgan, glancing between him and Hotch. "Danny probably is working under the impression that Masters doesn't know that, either. He'll just hear that—"

"That Danny died…." Hotch had caught on. "He'll have surprise on his side." Then Hotch shook his head. "But that's only if it's true. Reid, head to the hospital to see if Danny's there. We'll get ready to hit the warehouse." The ghost of a smirk flashed across Hotch's face, almost too fast for the others to catch the uncharacteristic expression. "Danny will need a distraction to _really_ throw Masters off guard."

|23|) \/\/|-|!73 4|\||) |)34|)

Blue eyes snapped open, staring blankly up at the far-too-close metal ceiling. It took a moment, but then he remembered the panic attack that caused his heart to pause.

Danny pushed himself up onto his elbows, cursing when his head brushed against the "ceiling" of the small drawer he was in. Rolling his eyes, he phased out of the storage container, glancing around and pleased to find that his clothes hadn't yet been locked away until a relative could pick them up. He got dressed quickly, then phased up and out of the morgue, just as a nurse led someone else in.

|23|) \/\/|-|!73 4|\||) |)34|)

"I'll need you to identify the body before I can release his personal items to you," the nurse stated as she came to a stop beside drawer 312.

Reid nodded. "I understand, ma'am."

"Alright." She sighed, then pulled open the drawer.

For a moment, both stared blankly into the drawer. Then the nurse shrieked.

Reid jumped at the noise, then moved to calm her. "Ma'am, _ma'am!_"

She sniffled, glancing up at him.

"I actually expected this. My team and I have reason to believe Danny actually survived and has, most likely, left already. I need to go find him."

"O—Okay…."

"Can you keep this from leaving the hospital?"

"W—What?"

"We can't let anyone outside this hospital—no, outside his _doctors—_know what happened."

"B—But w—why?"

"Because of his involvement in our current case. It will be safer for him if no one knows he's alive. I'll bring him in for another check-up after we finish this case, alright?"

She shakily nodded.

Reid sighed, grateful that she'd been easy to convince. "Thank you," he breathed. He stood and ran out.

|23|) \/\/|-|!73 4|\||) |)34|)

"Okay, let's run through teams and weaknesses," Danielle ordered, herding the BAU agents outside. Once at a nearby abandoned parking lot, she glanced around at them. "Alright, Morgan, you're more of a hand-to-hand fighter, right?"

He blinked. "I can be, yeah."

"Alright, you're with me. JJ, Prentiss, you two can break someone psychologically, can't you?"

The two women shared a look. "Yeah," Prentiss answered, "so long as we know what to go for."

"Trust me, just keep saying she looks old. You guys can handle Spectra. Val, that leaves Hotch and Rossi to you. You'll have—"

"Technus, I know," Val finished. "We'll probably need to borrow your technical analyst for that one."

"And Reid, when he gets back?" Hotch asked, wanting to make sure they planned for everything.

"He'll join up with JJ and Prentiss against Spectra. If they don't need help, he'll go to whoever does." Danielle glared around at them. "We have to rescue the hostages _before_ going after Vlad, and we can't let anyone alert him to our presence."

Val picked up there. "Our plan only works if Vlad doesn't think we know where he is. The way the warehouse is designed, there should be doors from each holding room to Vlad's personal room, so we can make use of those in our attack on Vlad himself."

"But we'll need to time it perfectly to surround him," Danielle added. "We have to take him completely by surprise, or he'll get away."

"And what about the hostages?" JJ asked.

Val blinked. "What about them?"

"What happens with them while we're fighting the ghosts and Vlad?"

Danielle replied, "Jack, Maddie, Jazz, Sam, and Tuck know how to fight. Once the guards are distracted, those five will get to work, either on getting the others out of helping us. Either way will work out. If need be, we can go back to free the hostages _after_ Vlad's in custody."

Rossi, along with the rest of his team, just stared. "…You're _how_ old again?"

"Um, two, but physically I'm thirteen," Danielle responded.

"Sixteen," Val added.

"And you came up with this plan between the two of you at _thirteen and sixteen?_"

"Well, it was mostly Danielle's idea," Val stated.

Now, all turned to stare at the blushing clone. "L—Like I said, Vlad wanted my batch of clones to have advanced mental capacities…."

Morgan chuckled. "Too bad we don't have Reid to translate for us. He's the only one who knows Super-Brain-ese."

Val smirked. "I've got a passing knowledge of it, but I'm nowhere _near_ fluent."

Danielle's blush darkened. "L—Look, c—can we forget that and get on with our _rescue mission?_"

Hotch nodded, leading the way to their SUV's. "Which way to the warehouse?"

|23|) \/\/|-|!73 4|\||) |)34|)

Danny had no map or directions on where to go. Instead, he had to trust his instincts as they led him around the town. Every few minutes, he'd drop down, invisible, to street level to let his ghost sense scan for Vlad and his lackeys. He continued this way for nearly an hour before he felt the blue mist and his ice core pulling him to the left.

He followed the tug, letting it pull him along as it pleased, each tug getting stronger, more urgent.

Finally, after another ten minutes of being led by his senses, Danny felt them dragging him straight down. He turned invisible before dropping down through the clouds, past buildings, and through the roof of a warehouse.

He landed in a crouch, listening for the tell-tale signs that he'd been caught. But there were no screams, no attacks, no alarms or flashing lights. Danny stood, slowly turning to familiarize himself with the room.

There were three doors, one on each wall except the wall behind him. A rather large, luxurious mahogany bed was beside Danny, situated so the headboard was pressed up against the doorless wall and the bed itself stuck out into the middle of the room, maroon and gold covers draping elegantly to the dark wood floor. A maroon shag rug lay in front of Danny, stretching across the left side of the room and leaving about a foot of space between its ends and the two walls it was placed between. A mahogany nightstand was between Danny and the bed, and a small tea service of gold stood in the corner diagonally from Danny.

Something in the back of Danny's mind whispered that this style, this spartan layout was similar to a place he had seen a long time ago, but he shoved the thought away easily, not allowing it to distract him as he began to rifle through the nightstand, looking for anything that could point him to where his friends and family were. Finding nothing there, he moved on to search the pillowcase and mattress of the bed.

When that also came up empty, he sat back on his heels and sighed, but froze when the door directly across from him opened. His wide blue eyes locked onto an equally shocked navy pair, but the surprised look was quickly dropped in favor of a feral smirk.

Vlad Masters shut and locked the door before stalking forward, staring Danny down. "Well, well, well," he purred, moving to lock the two side doors as well. Danny was too startled to even attempt to escape through them, still stuck staring, wide-eyed at Vlad. "It appears the stray has come back to the pound!" Vlad was still coming at Danny, who had come to his senses and began backing up, quickly hitting the wall with his back. He glanced over his shoulder, then back at Vlad before turning intangible—

And slamming straight into a ghost shield. Danny yelped, cradling his aching head as he squinted up at Vlad.

The man grinned at him—though it was more a baring of teeth than a grin—and leaned down to look a terrified Danny in the eye. "Unfortunately," he hissed, "you're still unwanted. And you know what happens to unwanted strays in the pound, don't you?"

Danny was shaking, unable to move, to blink, to speak—unable even to hear as the FBI broke into the outer rooms of the warehouse. His world was spinning out of control, and only Vlad's voice seemed to break through the pandemonium. He let out a strangled gasp as Vlad's hand clawed into his collar.

"_They are __**put to sleep.**_"

|23|) \/\/|-|!73 4|\||) |)34|)

A/N: So, again, I'm sorry in advance for any delay there might be in posting the next chapter. This will, sadly, be due mostly to school but partially to me wanting to make sure the battle scenes are up to par with the rest of the story. My original version of the next chapter mainly focused on Danny and Vlad, so the BAU and Val and Dani kinda got shunted to one side and their fight scenes are a bit lacking, so I'll need to fix that up some.

In other news, yay, I got this out before my next summer course started! YES! Now, hopefully I can spend a lot of time on the next chapter and get it awesome before it goes up. Well, I'll go off and go insane in chemistry now…. Review, please.


	10. Some Sneak Peeks For Your Wait

A/N: No, this isn't a real update. The actual chapter is taking forever mostly 'cause I'm struggling with the flow of it even though I know exactly what needs to happen, so I'm a bit ticked off at that particular chapter. As a peace offering, you guys get some scenes that may (or may not) be in the sequel to this story (and a glimpse at my possible three-quel idea, which is a Psych crossover). These scenes are subject to change when they are placed chronologically in the story. Enjoy, and the next real chapter should be out by the end of July, promise.

5|\|34| |033|

Reid took a moment to absorb what Danny had just told him, but recognized the look on the teen's face. Time for a subject change. "So, when is the last time you saw your uncle?"

Danny grinned sadly. "Just after the accident with the Portal."

"Did he know you were—?"

"Phantom? Yeah, not much gets past him. He's hyper observant, something Jazz and Mom got, too. Of course, Mom tends to ignore or overlook things she deems impossible, even if they're just improbable."

"And you?"

Danny blinked. "Huh?"

"Did you get the hyper observant gene?"

The teen blushed, rubbing the back of his neck. "I'd like to say I did, but my friends call me clueless a lot…."

At that, Reid simply had to laugh.

5|\|34| |033|

Danny paced, unable to stop, his hands spinning at the wrists and opening and closing into fists. The nervous energy was rolling off of him in waves, but he just couldn't sit still. He didn't even know why he was nervous, and once again he found himself considering Reid's suggestion of being tested for ADHD.

_Danny had noticed Reid watching him as he moved from room to room in the office, not pausing longer than to pour some coffee from the machine. He even saw Reid wince when he chugged the bitter drink without adding cream or sugar. Finally, he couldn't take it. "What, Reid?" he asked, rolling his eyes as the genius jumped, obviously thinking he'd been discreet about studying the teen._

"_H—Have you relaxed at all today, Danny?" Reid said instead of answering._

_Now Danny's brow furrowed. "I __**am**__ relaxed."_

_Reid shook his head. "N—No, I mean, have you sat down at all? Stopped moving?"_

"_No. Why?"_

_Danny barely held in a laugh as Reid worried his lip, trying to think through the best way to answer without offending the halfa. "I just… I noticed that you're always doing something, and that you're never still for more than a few minutes at a time."_

"_Okay. And?"_

_Reid struggled with his thoughts a few moments more, then blurted, "Have you ever been tested for ADHD?"_

_Danny stared at him, blinking. "W—What?"_

"_ADHD. Attention-Deficit Hyper—"_

"_I know what it is, Reid, I'm more confused about why you asked."_

_Reid sighed. "You've been distracted lately. You lose focus easily, you're always in motion, you even fidget excessively when sitting down. At home, you have trouble falling asleep, and I never see you in the same spot for more than a couple minutes."_

"_So, you think I have ADHD."_

"_Possibly. Honestly, it was either that or hypomania, but you're fairly good at controlling any irritability, so I'd say ADHD is more likely."_

_Danny frowned. "I haven't been irritable lately. …Have I?"_

_Reid chuckled but shook his head. "You keep it under control. People with hypomania tend to not be able to withhold their anger at others."_

_Danny nodded. He simply stood there for a moment, the fingers on one hand tapping against his glass while the other hand started making circles at his wrist again. Finally, he looked back up at Reid. "I was diagnosed with ADHD as a kid, but it was really mild. By the time I was in middle school, I was fine. I didn't need the medication I used to or anything. It went away."_

"_Danny, ADHD doesn't go away. You learned how to control it."_

_He frowned. "So, I can't control it anymore?"_

_Reid chewed his lip, thinking it over. "I think it's more that everything that's happened over the past two years has caused you to forget how to keep it under control. After all, the overabundance of energy probably came in handy when you were trying to avoid Vlad and the police while on the streets."_

_Danny thought back, realizing Reid was right. "Yeah, I guess it did. How do I relearn to control it?"_

_Reid gave him a slightly shaky smile. "That you'd have to figure out on your own."_

5|\|34| |033|

Danny glared at the blond across from him. The stupid spy was checking the walls and floor of their cell, looking for weaknesses or secret passages or some other such thing. Danny wasn't buying the act.

The blond finally turned to face him. "Could you maybe help some?" he asked, sounding exasperated that Danny wasn't already joining in.

Danny's lip twitched up and his nose wrinkled in a snarl. "Why should I?" he demanded of the other teen. "I already _tried _to help you, and you went running off to tell the Drakes!"

"What?" the boy gaped, staring in shock at Danny. "I just bloody _got_ here! How could I have told anyone _anything?_"

Danny stood, leaning heavily against the wall to keep weight off his bleeding leg. "You're working for _them!_ How could you help them out after all they did to us?"

"I _told_ you, _I just got here!_ I haven't been helping _anyone!_ What the hell are you even talking about?"

Danny lunged at the blond, but crumpled to the floor before he got there. The blond came over, trying to help Danny up, but he pulled away, refusing to take the other's hand. "_Leave me alone, Rider!_"

The blond gaped. "H—How—? I never told you my name, how'd you know—?"

"You _told_ me," Danny spat, "five _days_ ago, when I was first brought here."

Rider stared, thinking through what Danny just said. "Wait, so you saw someone who looked like me and claimed to be me when you first got here?"

"_Yes_," Danny snarled, "I saw _you._"

The blond flopped to the floor, sitting next to Danny but avoiding touching him, knowing it would set him off even worse. "Danny, your uncle helped me break into this place _today_. I wasn't here before now."

Danny sneered. "Yeah, right. I know what I saw—"

"You saw a _clone._"

All the anger slipped from Danny's face as he blinked at Rider—Alex. "I—_What?_"

5|\|34| |033|

Danny huffed, crossing his arms and glaring at the two men—though, really, how could they be considered men when they acted like five-year-olds?—before him. "I can't _believe_ Reid and Mom teamed up against me like this. Why the hell am I even here?"

The brunette sighed, his hands resting on his hips. "Don't be the third Save the Wales float in a single parade! Your mom decided I could help you relearn how to cope with your ADD. Er, ADHD. Whatever they're calling it now." He swiped a hand through his hair, the other waving around dismissively.

"Shawn, I really don't think it's a good idea," the black, sharply-dressed man stated. "We barely know this kid, and frankly, you're enough trouble for the both of us already."

"But Guuus!" Shawn whined, waving his arms around. "I already promised Maddie I'd watch him, and I can't back out _now!_"

Danny rolled his eyes. "I can take care of myself. I've got money, I'll just fly back out to DC."

"No," both men snapped immediately. They shared a glance, then Gus added, "You could just go back home."

The teen shook his head. "They still don't trust me. I couldn't even walk down the street without getting stuff tossed at me."

"You're staying here," Shawn declared. Then he grinned mischievously. "You can help me drive Lassifrass crazy."

One of Danny's eyebrows jumped up at that. "…Lassifrass? Really?"

"Detective Carlton Lassiter," Gus explained. "But Shawn tends to call him—"

"Lassie, Lassifrass, Lassieface…." Shawn counted off the nicknames on his fingers. He hopped a bit, a huge smile taking over his face as he added, "Oh! Detective Dipstick. That's one of my favorites."

Danny snorted, rolling his eyes at the last nickname. He definitely did _not_ miss Ember.

Shawn gasped and suddenly spun around, digging in a pile of papers for something, muttering, "I know I put one over here the other day…. Where is that thing?"

Danny looked at Gus, but the man just shrugged. Finally, Shawn came back up from his search with a pineapple in hand, a large red bow wrapped around its top. "For you!" he exclaimed, tossing the fruit at Danny.

The teen caught it, staring in shock at the hyper man. "Um, thanks?"

Shawn beamed. "You're welcome! Oh, Gus, we need to watch _The Monster Squad_ again! I'm sure Danny here knows a lot about the monsters in it!"

Gus blinked at his friend, obviously confused, while Danny sighed. "Mom told you, then?"

"Yep! It's gonna be _so cool_ to have a real live ghost around here! Can we pay you to haunt houses and scare up some business for us?" Shawn was suddenly in Danny's face, pleading.

Danny backed up a step. "Um, maybe?"

"Cool!" Shawn hopped over towards the kitchen, glancing in the fridge before pouting and turning back to Gus and Danny. "We're all out of pineapple juice. We must fix that! To the Blueberry!" He rushed towards the door, calling back, "Oh, and while we're out, we can stop by the police department and introduce Danny to Lassieface and Jules!"

Gus rolled his eyes, following his friend and starting to dig in his pockets for his keys. "Fine, they'll have to meet him sooner or later anyway…." He glanced back at Danny, asking, "You coming?"

Danny stared for a moment out the window at Shawn before looking back to Gus. "That's who's gonna teach me to keep my ADHD under _control?_"

Gus chuckled. "Believe it or not, that _is_ him under control. He just acts hyper to throw people off, usually. Shawn's got a weird sense of humor that way." Then Gus frowned, checking his pockets once more before running out the door, screaming, "_Hey! Shawn, you give me back my keys!_"

…Yeah, this wasn't gonna work.

5|\|34| |033|

A/N: Please forgive me for making you guys wait for more of the story, but let me know what you think about these four scenes, and tell me if you'd actually like to see the Psych crossover. It's still up in the air, but I've got a few ideas for it, and I'm loving the thought of channeling my inner four-year-old to write Shawn's lines.


	11. Chapter 10

A/N: So, date I started working on this? June 29. Date finished? July 18. Woohoo, chemistry class. In other news, who's ready for an epic eight-part final battle? But don't let that fool you, there's still more after this chapter. Apologies in advance as I know some of the battle scenes aren't the greatest. That's what happens when chemistry class sucks up all my energy before I get to sit and type this out.

Playlist for this chapter (no, seriously, I listened to these on endless repeat while typing this up): "Blow Me Away," "Had Enough," and "You Fight Me" by Breaking Benjamin, "Is Forever Enough" by Hawk Nelson, "Frontline" and "Throwdown" by Pillar, "You're Going Down" by Sick Puppies, "Riot" and "Get Out Alive" by Three Days Grace, and "Stay Alive," "Stand Up," and "Headstrong" by Trapt. Yay for my over-abundance of rock music.

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The small bit of training the BAU team had gotten in using the ghost weapons was definitely paying off. Morgan, true to form, broke down a door to start off the fight, taking the metal hunter ghost—Skulker—completely by surprise. Danielle followed him in quickly, ordering the rest of the team to, "_Find the other guards!_" Luckily, they listened, and Valerie herded them off.

Skulker finally recovered and grinned slyly at the two before him. "So, the whelp's _clone_ had to go get _help_ to face off against her _daddy_, did she?" He chuckled. "Once a failure, always a failure, huh?"

Danielle snarled, but Morgan was the one to land a shot on the hunter, firing from behind.

Skulker was blasted away, obviously surprised by the attack from who he thought was a harmless human. He shook his head and pulled himself from the rubble, looking around to find that the two had scattered to find hiding places. Skulker grinned. That was fine. Let them hide. Hunting was always the best part.

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Val led the BAU team out into a hallway that ended in a fork. She studied her ghost hunting suit's specialized tracker, then glanced back up. "Technus is this way," she said, nodding to the left. "That means Spectra will be on the right." She turned to the four adults, nibbling her lip nervously. "We'll have to split up…."

JJ laid a hand on her shoulder, smiling reassuringly. "We always knew it'd come to that." JJ looked to Prentiss, who nodded. "Let's do this."

The two women headed right, and Hotch and Rossi followed Val down the left corridor. They came to a door that Val quickly blasted away, tucking and rolling into the room while firing off two of the guns her suit supplied her with.

Hotch and Rossi immediately followed, deciding it'd be best to assume she'd have a Morgan-style plan. Sure enough, they walked in on a shootout that was rather one-sided, the ghost mostly shielding itself with Doc Oc style metal limbs.

Hotch glanced at Rossi, motioning for them to split up to search for the hostages. The two broke apart, rushing down each side of the room and giving cover fire when they could for Val, who continued pounding away at Technus. Obviously, Val had something personal against this ghost, so it would be their job to find and secure the hostages.

And, dammit, they were gonna do their job.

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Prentiss made quick work of the door to the last room, and JJ led the way in, gun raised and ready to fire. Following Val and Danielle's advice, they spaced out their shots so one was always firing, but they quickly found out that the ghost they were faced with was difficult. They were easily separated, unable to see each other or communicate at all.

Meanwhile, the black shadow ghost, Spectra, laughed and mocked them, sending off her own ectoblasts every so often. "This is the best the _FBI_ has to offer?" she chuckled, waving a hand dismissively at them. "Two pathetic little _girls_ who have never even _seen_ a ghost before?" She laughed, feeling the two start to believe her lies, breathing in their misery. "The _ghost boy_ did a better job fighting me off when his little _girlfriend_ died!"

JJ and Prentiss winced at that, knowing from Danny's statement how well that particular fight went. Unfortunately, what Danielle and Val failed to mention to them was that Spectra gained power with each negative thought she collected off her opponents. They were unknowingly powering her up each time she spoke. The two found themselves hoping Reid would show up soon.

Otherwise, they were screwed.

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Danny choked on a yelp as Vlad slammed him into another wall. His arm and ankle let him know that they had not yet fully healed as they throbbed in time with his pulse. One of his hands came up to try to force Vlad's hand off his throat.

Vlad simply chuckled at the weak attempt. "You truly are _pathetic_, aren't you, boy?" he spat. "I should just kill you now like I should have when we first met two years ago!"

Danny coughed and hacked as he was dropped, trying to bring in as much air as he could. When he could speak, he choked out, "D—Do… what you want… to me. J—Just… leave… my family a—and… friends a—alone."

There was a moment where all was calm and quiet. Then, Vlad _laughed._ Danny could do nothing but stare as Vlad doubled over in mirth.

"W—What?" Danny panted, gaping. "What's s—so… funny?"

Vlad stood again, wiping a tear from his eye. "_You_, my boy."

Danny's brow furrowed. "M—Me?"

"Yes."

"W—What'd I do th—that's… so f—funny?"

Vlad sneered down at him. "You think they're still alive."

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Skulker was quickly getting tired of this hunt. It seemed that the clone and the human were hunting _him_ instead of the other way around. Every time he got close to where he assumed they were hiding, he'd get hit from behind by one of their little blasts. It got to the point where he attempted to go the opposite direction in order to catch the one sending the potshots, but they even anticipated _that_ and managed to get the upper hand still.

Morgan and Danielle were simply splitting up, taking shots if he got too close to the other's current hiding spot and searching for the hostages. Unfortunately, they were proving difficult to find, but both Danielle and Morgan could see that Skulker was weakening from the cheap shots he was taking. In an unspoken agreement, they both began firing on him, blasting from opposite directions so he had nowhere to hide.

The whole room got so bright it appeared white. Then, a blue beam cut through the blinding blasts, and Danielle cried out, "_I got him!_"

Both ran out to meet in the middle of the room. "So that's half our job done," Morgan stated, "now we've gotta find the—"

"No, not _we_."

Morgan's brow furrowed. "What're you talkin' about? Of _course_ we have to—!"

"_I'll_ get the hostages," Danielle said, holding up a hand to stop him from arguing. "You need to go help Danny."

Morgan thumbed over his shoulder, face going taut with repressed anger. "But, we were just supposed to—"

"Look," Danielle interrupted, placing her hands on Morgan's shoulders and shaking him. "I _know_ Danny. He's going to need help against Vlad, _especially_ after everything that's happened the past two years. He'll need you and the rest of your team, when they're able. I'll find Maddie and her clones. _Go._"

That was all he needed to hear. With a quick nod, Morgan was off.

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Hotch was having absolutely no luck looking for the hostages. At some point, the ghost had begun fighting back, causing Rossi and Hotch to be pulled into the battle, mostly to give cover fire and provide the occasional distraction while still hunting for the hostages. Every so often, they heard what had become a tell-tale CLUNK, signaling that another piece of the ghost's technological armor had fallen off. Valerie definitely knew what she was doing.

Rossi met up with Hotch once there was a slight lull in the battle. "We can't both stay here," Rossi declared. "We're obviously no help to Valerie, and just one of us is needed to find the hostages and clones."

"Then what do you suggest?" Hotch asked.

Rossi glanced at the ghost and huntress, then back at Hotch. "Go see if you can help Danny. We both know he's in no shape to fight Masters alone, especially when Masters can use those ghost powers."

"And you'll get the hostages?"

Rossi scoffed. "Of course I will. Seriously, Aaron, what else would you expect?"

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Prentiss cursed as the ghost flew past them once more. She fired off a quick shot that went wide. "Did Danielle or Valerie ever mention whether these things could run out?" she asked JJ, motioning with here ectogun.

JJ grinned weakly. "They never said they _would_."

Prentiss rolled her eyes. "Didn't say they _wouldn't_, either, though…. Dammit, where's Morgan when you need him?"

A shriek answered her, then a glowing blue light. There was a moment's pause, then a voice called out, "Well, I'm not Morgan, but will I do?"

"_Reid!_" both women exclaimed, happily heading over to him after seeing that the ghost was gone.

He chuckled. "You'd think I just saved your lives or something!"

Prentiss punched him in the shoulder. "Can it, wise guy!"

"Besides," JJ stated, hands on hips, "I seem to remember _quite_ a few times where things were the other way around and _we_ were saving _you!_"

Reid blushed. "P—Point taken. Now, wh—where's—?"

Prentiss held up a hand. "Ah, ah! We'll take care of _that!_ You have someone else who probably needs saving." She thumbed over her shoulder at one of the three inner doors, just as a loud cry was heard.

"_Danny!_" Reid yelled, rushing towards it.

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"W—What are you talking about?" Danny stammered. "O—Of course they're s—still—!"

"There's no 'of course' about it, boy!" Vlad snarled. "_Think_ for once in your miserable life! All those bodies, and the only way to tell the clone from the original is a _**barcode**__ tattooed on their __**neck!**_"

Danny's eyes went wide, and he dove away as Vlad tried to grab him again. He phased through the bed, hoping the makeshift shield would delay Vlad some. "The clones are the only onese with the barcodes!" he shot back, charging an ectoblast in one hand. "You said so _yourself!_" He pushed the blast forwards, a burst of green flying straight at Vlad.

A pink shield materialized before him, dispersing the blast into harmless little beams. Vlad retaliated with his own blast too quickly for Danny to defend, then phased through the bed as Danny attempted to pull himself up from the floor.

Danny barely managed to roll out of the way of Vlad's punch. He actually slammed into the other wall at the end of his spiral, wincing when the motion jarred his still-healing ankle and arm.

Vlad laughed as Danny cradled his arm and pulled his wounded leg in towards his body. "Of _course_ I said so, boy!" he growled. "And you actually _believed_ it!" Vlad leaned in, smirking at Danny, who could only glare back. "Do you know," he hissed, "how _easy_ it is to _tattoo_ a _corpse?_"

Danny froze, eyes wide and mouth gaping. He worked his jaw for a few minutes before managing to gasp out, "W—_What?_"

Vlad grabbed Danny by his still-healing arm and flung him into the wall on the other side of the bed. Danny crashed into the nightstand, screaming as his arm and ankle twisted once more. Vlad stalked over as Danny struggled to move, to get pressure off his aching limbs. A black boot heel dug into his stomach, aggravating the cuts there as Vlad leaned down.

"Your friends and family are _dead_, Daniel," Vlad hissed. "I killed the originals _first_. They never even left Amity Park." The heel ground in deeper, and Danny was choking on each breath. "They're all _dead_, boy, and it's all because _you couldn't save them._ You were never good enough for them, and you couldn't even stop me from killing your own obsession _right in front of you!_" Vlad stood tall again, backing up a few steps to stand, imposing, in the middle of the room, glaring down his nose at a curled-up, in pain, cringing Danny. His hands lit up with pink fire. "And now, I'll finally kill _you_." Vlad's hands rose to fire—

Just as all three doors were broken down and Danny spun, unfurling himself. Green beams came from each direction, meeting in the middle before Vlad even knew what had happened.

All that remained was a charred body, arms still raised above its head in an attack that would never come and mouth gaping in a final expression of surprise before it crumpled to the floor.

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A/N: God, that's the longest it has _ever_ taken for me to type up a single chapter. Three weeks. Ick. But you'll all be glad to hear that my class is done next week, so after that (and 4-H Fair) I'll be able to type out the last two chapters and epilogue fairly quickly. Then I can start posting the sequel, which is going to have less (but longer!) chapters. Anywayz, hope you liked, and I hope you all feel Vlad got what was coming! Read and review, please!


	12. Chapter 11

A/N: Hi. So, first time using Pages to type up and post a chapter, so let's see how this works out. Also, my chem class is officially done, so I finally have time to write!

Also, you'll be happy to know I've almost finished the sequel to this, so it'll actually be blasted out (hopefully) once it's complete. And then I'll be writing up the third story, which will be a Psych cross-over and have a bit more humor in it while retaining the angst level, so that'll be interesting to balance out.

Chapter playlist: "E for Extinction" by Thousand Foot Krutch, "Diary of Jane" by Breaking Benjamin, "Gone Forever" by Three Days Grace, and "Savior" by Rise Against.

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Danny slumped back against the wall, blankly staring at what was left of the corpse. It took a moment, but he finally dragged his eyes away to look up at the three who had also fired.

Reid knelt beside him, speaking rapidly, but none of it managed to compute for Danny. Hotch was crouched over the remains, probably taking unnecessary vitals. Morgan stood in one of the doorways, gun still drawn but aim moving between the other two doors to make sure no other ghosts caught them off-guard.

Danny merely sat for a while, a buzzing noise in his ears as his brain tried to catch up with what had happened in the last few moments. During Vlad's rant, he had curled up to hide the fact that he was charging an ectoblast. Apparently, the BAU agents had managed to arrive and shoot at the same time as Danny. The four blasts had converged—

And turned Vlad into the pile of ashes and bones before him.

The white noise changed slightly, becoming something muffled as Danny blinked at the corpse, not quite taking it in or even believing it.

"Hey, kid."

Danny jumped slightly, staring up at Morgan, who squatted next to him. A quick glance showed him that Hotch had taken over guard duty and Reid had stopped his rambling. He looked back at Morgan, still looking dazed and confused.

Morgan gave him a slight smile, hoping to calm and reassure him some. "Can we check your arm and ankle?"

Danny stared for a moment, wondering how he knew before he realized he was cradling the two injured limbs close to his body. There was a short pause, then Danny nodded and unfolded his body, holding the limbs out for inspection.

Morgan studied the ankle first, tenderly massaging it to check where the pain was. Danny winced throughout the whole of his check, but only hissed when he went directly over the ankle bone. Morgan looked back at Danny, locking on to the (once again) guarded blue eyes and saying only, "It looks like a bad sprain, but I doubt it's broken."

Danny nodded, knowing instinctively that Morgan was right.

Reid, however, frowned. "But, it was _fractured_ three days ago!" His brow furrowed as he glanced at Danny. "How'd you get rid of the casts, anyway?"

Danny shrugged. "Didn't need them," he answered, voice scratchy from the screaming and choking from earlier. "Phased 'em off. Heal faster than most."

Reid's eyes widened as he thought that through. "Right, your ghost form speeds things up. That's why you needed so much painkillers in order to get the right affect."

Danny nodded.

Morgan rolled his eyes at the geekfest. He interrupted Reid's next question to ask for Danny to let him check his arms. He looked over the arm that had been cut first, seeing that it was already scabbing over and just needed to be bandaged again. Then he moved on to the previously-broken arm.

At the first touch, Danny grimaced. As Morgan began massaging to find where the pain originated, Danny whimpered, the noise slowly and steadily increasing in intensity. Morgan let go of the limb, allowing Danny to cradle it to his chest once more.

"That one's still broken," Morgan murmured.

"No, ya think?" Danny bit back, rolling his eyes. He winced as his arm throbbed.

Hotch saw the wince as he came over. "We should check on the others, see if they've found the hostages."

Danny scowled. "Why should we?"

Reid's brow furrowed again. "Don't you want to see your family now that Vlad's gone?"

At the word "family," Danny's eyes went dull. He hunched in on himself, blocking out the agents as much as he could. "What's the point?" he mumbled. "They're all gone, too."

"Really? You seriously gave up on us that quick?"

Morgan and Reid watched, amused, as Danny's eyes practically doubled in size as he looked up at the new arrivals.

A redhead girl stood at the forefront of the small group of three that had come in the far door. She had her hands on her hips, smirking at Danny's shocked face. "Really, little brother, I expected better from you."

Danny seemed torn between joy and suspicion. His eyes narrowed and he stared the three down as he decided on the latter. "How do I know it's really you and not a clone?"

Hotch, Morgan, and Reid watched the exchange in silence, wondering how the three would get Danny to trust them.

The girl, Jazz, rolled her eyes. "You tore apart my teddy bear to get me in a childish state of mind so I could see Youngblood when he made you come across as crazy."

"What was the bear's name?" Danny demanded.

"Bearbert Einstein," Jazz responded almost instantaneously.

Danny grinned. "I'm still not gonna apologize for it."

Jazz crossed her arms, half-heartedly grumbling, "Of course you're not…."

The two standing behind Jazz chuckled, drawing Danny's attention.

His eyes narrowed once more. "How do I trust you two, now?"

The elder man shrugged, unable to come up with an idea while the younger rolled his eyes. "When Desirée first attacked Amity Park, she gave me ghost powers, too."

Danny practically glared at Tuck, hissing, "Ix-nay on the owers-pay!"

Jazz sighed. "Mom and Dad know, Danny." Danny turned his glare on her as their father blushed. "We told them when Vlad grabbed us, just before he staged our deaths."

Jack Fenton moved forward, shuffling his feet and barely able to make eye contact with his son. "We're both sorry for attacking you, Danny. Well, attacking the ghost you." He shyly met Danny's shocked gaze. "We're proud of you, Danny, and we should've realized Vlad was bad news." His gaze moved down to the corpse, murmuring, "Kinda too late now, though, isn't it? Good riddance, I say."

Danny's mouth twitched into a vague smile. "Yeah, it kinda is." Danny glanced to Reid, silently asking for help getting up.

Morgan and Reid each took a side to support Danny as he wobbled to his feet. Once he was standing, the three in the doorway rushed over to hug him. Danny winced a bit but smiled, happily allowing them to continue.

Reid grinned at the image, the grin widening when he saw Hotch hiding his own smile. Morgan, however, nodded towards the side door he'd come from earlier.

A woman stood in the doorway, a sad smile on her face as she watched the four hugging. When she noticed Reid's gaze, she put a finger to her lips, winking.

Reid blinked, but nodded, wondering what she was planning. Her smile widened, turning into something happier than it had been.

The hug continued, the three former hostages happily chattering while Danny tried to just keep up with them all. Finally, they noticed his winces and backed up a moment, Jazz worrying over the grimace he showed.

"You're _hurt!_" she cried. "I know I shouldn't be all that surprised, seeing as that's a norm with you, but _still!_" Her hands went to her hips once more, foot tapping angrily. "Who's been taking care of you? I ought to give them a piece of my mind, letting you get hurt like this!"

"_Jazz!_" Danny exclaimed, blushing wildly. "The BAU's taking care of me, and it wasn't even their fault I got hurt!" His blush deepened. "B—Besides, they already checked me over."

"And?" Her arms were crossed, foot tapping even faster.

"Sprained ankle, broken arm, cuts scabbing over," he muttered succinctly, motioning to each as he mentioned them.

Jazz's aquamarine eagle eyes glanced over each injury before scrutinizing the two BAU agents before her. Finally, she sighed. "Fine. I guess I'll save them my wrath." Her arms came uncrossed so she could wag a finger at all three. "But only for now, and only if they get you to a hospital ASAP."

"Seconded," a new voice declared.

All four of the Amity Parkers' eyes went wide as they spun to face the newcomer. Danny gaped at her before whispering, "_Mom?_"

She gathered him into her arms, murmuring, "_Slava bogu…. Moy ryebyenok, vi byezopasni. Ya zdyes, vi byezopasni._"

He practically clung to her, whispering something back.

Morgan motioned Reid and Hotch off to one side. As they met up, he asked, "What the heck did she just say?"

Morgan and Hotch both were watching Reid, waiting for an answer.

Reid shrugged. "Like Elle said, I'm only a genius in English."

Morgan groaned as Rossi and Prentiss came in. Prentiss grinned at the sight of Danny reuniting with his friend and family. Rossi, meanwhile, glanced at Reid, wondering, "Why are we worrying about a foreign language and Reid's lack of knowledge?"

Hotch simply nodded at the mother-son pair as they continued to mumble to each other.

The nod brought the two to Prentiss' attention, as well. She frowned as she listened to them. "That's Russian," she muttered to her teammates. "He's telling her he's okay and she's reassuring him that they're here and he's safe."

Reid blinked at her. "...Danny knows Russian? Since when?"

Prentiss shrugged. "From the accent and fluidity, I'd say from birth. His mom, too."

All four glanced at Hotch as he stated, "She's probably a Russian immigrant. She would've wanted her kids to know the language."

"Danny?" another voice called.

Wide-eyed, Danny turned to stare at the black-haired, violet-eyed girl that stood in the doorway Reid and Prentiss both had used. He pulled away from his mom, limping towards the girl. "S—Sam?"

She grinned at him. "Took you long enough, ghost boy."

He lunged forwards, nearly tackling her in a hug. "_Sam!_ You're _alive!_ B—But, the—the you that died d—didn't have a b—barcode…."

Sam rolled her eyes. "Of _course_ not. Vlad had to freak you out, after all."

"B—But, she told me to save them…."

The girl grabbed onto his shoulders, forcing him to look her in the eyes. "Yeah, 'cause I _taught_ the clones that phrase, in case you ever got to one of 'em before they died." She smirked. "I had to make sure you didn't give up on us somehow."

He hugged her tighter, murmuring, "You're alive. A—All of you are _alive!_"

Danielle, Valerie, and JJ ran into the room, each panting. "About that whole being alive thing," Danielle began.

Danny's brow furrowed. "Dani? And Val? What're you two—?"

"No time for that!" Val exclaimed, trying to push people towards the doors. "This place is _rigged!_"

The group stared at them, confused.

"We can't get the clones out," JJ stated. "All the doors to their holding cells are wired with explosives."

"And each started counting down a minute ago," Danielle added. "We have two minutes to get out of here before this whole place blows sky high!"

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A/N: What, did you guys think the angst and suspense was over or something? *dodges thrown fruit* Erm, immagonowpleasereadandreview!


	13. Chapter 12

A/N: Sorry, this took a little longer than expected due to much playing with my niece, nephew, and cousin-once-removed during vacation. Yay for cute baby overload! Also, you guys finally get the (mostly) full story about what happened to make Danny leave Amity Park.

Playlist for this chapter: "So Far Away" by Staind, "Photograph" by Nickelback, and "Look Away" by Thousand Foot Krutch.

Enjoy!

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Hotch took over before anyone could panic. "Morgan, Reid, Valerie, which way out is quickest?"

All three thought back. "The left side door," Val replied, pointing. "He would've kept Maddie closest to an escape route since she's the only one he cared about."

The six Amity Parkers (along with Danielle) rolled their eyes at Vlad's predictability. Hotch merely nodded. "Let's go, then."

"Wait."

Everyone turned to look at Danny. He blushed slightly. "W—What about the clones?"

Danielle bit her lip before shaking her head. "We can't get to them, Danny."

Danny turned to her, eyes wide. "B—But we—we could phase them out—"

His clone was blinking back tears as she shook her head again. "W—We _can't_. I—I tried, and th—that's what started the timer!"

"B—But—"

Reid and Hotch hung back, motioning for the others to leave. Danielle was the last out, whispering, "I'm sorry, Danny," as she left.

Danny glanced over at the two BAU agents. "We—We _have_ to help them!"

"We don't have time," Reid replied, not quite able to look Danny in the eyes. "Plus, we wouldn't be able to get them out without blowing ourselves up."

Danny gaped at them. "So, we're just going to _let_ them die?"

"Unfortunately, yes," Hotch stated as he and Reid each took a side to help Danny hobble out of the room. "There's no way for us to get them out, phasing obviously didn't work, and from what Danielle and Valerie told us, they'd be unable to function on their own. And, they technically don't exist."

"Technically, neither does Dani," the teen hissed back, eyes glowing a bright green.

"Yes," Reid admitted, "but she was given the capability to think and act on her own. The clones could mimic things they heard, but they'd never have the ability to communicate beyond echoing someone."

"But—"

"No time," Hotch interrupted, "we have less than a minute to get out that door." He nodded to the exit, which still stood a long ways off.

Danny bit his lip, pausing mid-step and causing both Hotch and Reid to stop as well. Before they could start to worry, Danny transformed, grabbing the two and flying as fast as he could to the door. They had just gotten out and were heading over to meet up with the group that stood about twenty yards away when the warehouse behind them exploded.

Danny lost his grip on Hotch and Reid as they were pushed forward and thrown to the ground. Luckily, Hotch and Reid only dropped a few feet since Danny had been flying close to the ground, but Danny himself rolled to a stop after his rough, forced landing. He changed back as he sat up, holding his head and arm and wincing again.

Jazz and Sam knelt by Danny immediately, checking him over for any new injuries. He chuckled at their worry, saying, "I'm fine, guys, really." He stared for a moment at the demolished and still burning building. "...He's really gone," he murmured. "After all that, he's… he's gone…." Then, he sighed. "And everyone in Amity Park still believes him."

The five former hostages and two teenage rescuers shared a glance, worried for Danny. Before any of them could comfort him, though, Rossi stated, "C'mon, we should get you all checked into a hospital." He quirked an eyebrow at Danny, who suddenly wouldn't make eye contact. "After all, I'm sure they'll be wondering where their corpse wandered off to."

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It took only a few minutes for the team and hostages to get checked over. Even Valerie and Danielle were in and out.

Danny, however, had been forced to stay overnight for observation. When he tried to complain, Reid simply told him, "That's what you get for stopping your heart while in a hospital."

Garcia had rushed to the hospital as soon as she heard they were there. She spent the first half hour making sure all her G-Men-and-Ladies were okay, and the next hour was devoted to guilting Danny's doctor into allowing visitors in. Once that was accomplished, she happily introduced herself to Danny's friends and family. The two friends, Sam and Tucker, were highly amused when she called herself the Oracle of Quantico, and she cheerfully spent another hour discussing firewalls and counter-hacks with Tucker while the others visited with Danny. Finally, a full two and a half hours after she'd arrived, Garcia went in with Reid to see the half ghost.

The teen, however, had long since lost his patience for being in the hospital. "C'mon, Reid, you _know_ I'm fine! Or, I will be in a week or so. There's no _point_ in me staying here!" He winced and phased a hand into his cast to scratch his arm.

Reid frowned at him. "You know they need to make sure you don't 'die' on them again. And no scratching. You'll have to suffer through like everyone else."

Danny scowled, but didn't argue.

Garcia came up next to him, sitting in the chair beside him. "So, I guess you'll be heading back to Amity Park with your family pretty soon, right?" she asked, grinning sadly at him.

"Um," he wouldn't quite meet their eyes, "actually, I was hoping I'd have a place here for a little while longer."

Reid and Garcia blinked at him in shock. "Wha—B—But I thought you'd want to go home as soon as you could!" Reid stammered. "N—Not that we w—want you to leave, b—but, well, that _is_ your home, even though you're welcome here—"

"Reid."

Reid's rambling stumbled to a stop as he glanced at the chuckling teen.

"Even if I _was_ leaving, I wouldn't just forget you guys. Besides, I talked with my parents, and we all decided it'd be best if I stayed here while they did damage control at home."

"Damage control?" Garcia echoed. "Why would they need to do damage control?"

Danny didn't respond for a moment, instead staring down at his hands. Finally, "B—Before I left," he murmured, "Vlad made sure everyone knew my ghost half had killed my family and friends. Then, he told them I was Danny Phantom."

Reid's brow furrowed. "They _can't_ have believed him. He had no proof!"

"He didn't need any proof, Reid," the teen said flatly.

"No one would believe such a crazy—"

"He forced me to change in front of a camera."

Reid and Garcia stared in shock at Danny as he began explaining why he left Amity Park in the first place.

"He staged the whole thing to make it seem like _I_ was the bad guy. I should've realized what he was doing, he'd done it before, and—" Danny cut himself off with a strangled growl as his hands fisted into the sheets on his bed. Garcia patted his unbroken hand, smiling reassuringly at him.

"He got what was coming to him, Danny," she stated. "I'm not a fan of the blood and guts part of this job, but even _I_ know he had to be stopped by any means. He can't hurt you or your family any more."

It took a moment for Danny to absorb all that, but when he did, he grinned weakly at her. "Thanks, Garcia."

She squeezed his hand. "No problem, my fellow energy drink addict."

Danny sighed, then continued his story. "He leaked the tape to the press. Within an hour, it was on every station, television and radio. Everyone knew, and I tried to hole myself up in the OpCenter to avoid the angry mob that formed outside the house."

"OpCenter?" Reid asked.

"Operations Center," both Garcia and Danny replied before staring at each other in shock.

Danny recovered first. "Hacker thing?"

"Yeah, it's what we call the base of operations. What about you?"

"It's what Mom and Dad call the huge satellite-like thing on our roof. It functions as a second lab, security center, and can turn into a blimp or jet once it disconnects from the house."

"Woah," both agents gaped.

Danny chuckled lightly at their expressions. "Yeah, I've got a weird family. Anyway, I couldn't stay up there and the mob had begun to break into the house when Vlad called a town meeting." At Reid and Garcia's blank stares, he added, "Vlad was the mayor at the time."

The teen had to stop for a moment, gathering his thoughts and courage. He closed his eyes, breathing as deeply as he could manage. Finally, he opened his eyes and sighed again. "He got them all thinking I killed everyone. I couldn't leave the house, I couldn't get to any food, and it eventually got to the point where they were vandalizing the house. I barely got out one night when they tossed a torch into the living room. The couch caught on fire, along with the curtains and part of the carpet. I snuck out before the fire trucks came, but I stayed close enough to make sure they stopped the fire.

"Then, Vlad caught me while I was out."

The two FBI agents were speechless, just watching as Danny finally told the full story of the trauma he'd kept bottled up for two years. "He threatened to kill Sam and Tuck, and at that point, I didn't even know my family was still alive and it was clones that Amity Park thought I'd killed. He told me my friends would die if I stayed there, and since my family was gone and the town all knew and no one trusted me—"

"You didn't see any other choice," Reid finished for Danny, who simply nodded.

Needless to say, the boy was shocked when Garcia grabbed him and pulled him into a tight hug. He tensed for a moment before relaxing and letting her coddle him. It only took a few short minutes for him to fall asleep from physical and emotional exhaustion.

Garcia held him for a few more minutes before leaning him back on the bed and tucking him in. She glanced over at Reid, saying only, "He needs to sleep. Anything else can wait until he's out of here."

Reid took one look at the teen before agreeing.

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Danny very happily was allowed to leave the hospital the next day. The doctors made up some excuse for his supposed "death" and let him go with instructions to stay off his sprained ankle for a few weeks and to come back in a month and a half to get his cast taken off. They also gave detailed instructions to Reid on how to care for the cuts and stab wounds on Danny's arm, chest, and back.

All thirteen of the hostages and rescuers were waiting for Reid and Danny when they got back to the FBI office. They had a cake and balloons all set up for a huge party. When Reid asked them all for the reasoning, Jack and Maddie just grinned, saying they wanted to make up for the two years' worth of birthdays and holidays they'd missed. Garcia added that they all deserved a party for a job well done.

The BAU team found themselves just watching as Danny celebrated with his family. They chuckled as the six teens played pranks on each other and the parents continuously hugged or kissed Danny, much to his embarrassment. Hotch and Rossi both grinned when the teens pulled the younger agents into their prank-off, which meant pure mayhem as the agents (Morgan) got competitive. The kids declared war and teamed up against Morgan before deciding that they'd done enough pranking for one day. The exhausted teens collapsed onto a nearby couch, Tucker slinging an arm each around Sam and Danny's shoulders as he teased them and Val, Danielle, and Jazz giggled, squeezing in on the ends.

Maddie and Jack spoke for a few minutes before splitting up, the latter heading back for more cake and the former moving towards the BAU team. She grinned at them all. "Thank you all, so much, for helping Danny during all this mess."

Hotch nodded as the rest smiled at her. "It was no trouble, ma'am."

"Please, Maddie is fine. And if I know my son, I'm sure he didn't _mean_ to be trouble, but trouble followed him anyway." She smiled wryly. "You all spent the past week helping a half-ghost teen save his friends and family from a psychopath. You don't need to sugarcoat things for us." She glanced over at Danny and his friends. "_Any_ of us."

"Is there any particular reason you wanted to talk to us, Maddie?" Rossi asked.

Maddie tore her attention away from the kids and back to the team. "Yes. I'd like to ask you all to watch over Danny for a little while longer."

All but Reid and Garcia were shocked. "We thought he was going back to Amity Park with the rest of you," Morgan said, confused.

"He can't come back just yet." She spared another quick glance at her son. "We have to do some damage control before he can. But I spoke with my brother last night, and he'll be moving to the States soon. He'll take Danny in once he arrives, but until then—"

"Danny can stay with me," Reid declared immediately.

The rest of the team blinked at him before Garcia grinned. "And when you're on a case, he can stick with me!"

Morgan recovered first, shrugging. "Clooney'd like the extra attention when I'm not around." At Maddie's confused look, he added, "Clooney's my dog."

Maddie smiled. "Danny's always wanted a dog. And thank you all, again, for everything you've done to help Danny." She glanced back at Danny as he laughed at something Tucker said. His laugh was different, though, quieter, and she knew it was due to the past two years. But she'd seen him with the team. "You all will be good for him, after all he's been through. If he came back now, as he is, all anyone will notice is how different he is. He needs time to adjust and process everything that's happened. And, he wouldn't tell us what Vlad did to him." Maddie sighed, turning back to the team. "I know it had to be bad, but he's—he doesn't like bringing us into his problems, so he won't let us help him."

"And you think he'll let us help," JJ finished for her.

Maddie sighed, grinning sadly once more. "I can only hope."

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The Fentons, Sam, and Tucker stayed only a few days. Tickets were ordered immediately after the party for the five hostages as well as Valerie and Danielle. After only a day with the clone, the Fentons had fallen in love, deciding to take her in and claim they'd adopted her to anyone who might ask back in Amity Park. Danielle had been overwhelmed at the idea of a real family and spent the past few days getting to really know the Fentons.

But now, the whole group found themselves at the airport, bidding farewell to the seven Amity Parkers. The BAU team hung back as Danny hugged his parents and sister and joked with his friends and clone. Danielle couldn't stop smiling as she nearly tackled her "brother," thanking him for letting her become part of his family.

He grinned at her, simply stating, "_Our_ family, Dani."

She bit back tears as she followed the Fentons and Valerie to the boarding line, waving at him while walking sideways, dragged along by Valerie.

Danny turned to Tuck and Sam, his grin turning a little sad. Their faces mirrored his for only a moment before Tucker tagged him on the arm.

"Quit looking so down, man," he said, smirking at the two. "It's not like we'll never see each other again! Besides, Garcia's got Skype, right?"

Danny chuckled. "Yeah. Thanks, Tuck."

"No problem, man." They bumped fists, then Tuck headed to join the others.

Sam and Danny just shifted nervously for a while before Sam glanced up at him, grinning shyly. "I'll call everyday, Danny, so you'd better pick up."

He smiled back, hugging her. "I'll be waiting by the phone." He pulled away, locking eyes with her. "Stay safe, okay? All of you."

She leaned up to kiss him on the cheek before stating, "You, too, Danny." Then she, too, left for boarding. The group all waved once more before disappearing down the boarding ramp.

Danny raised a hand to his cheek, eyes wide. Reid came over to him, slightly confused.

"You just let her go," he said. "I thought she was your obsession?"

"She is," Danny answered simply. "But her family needs her more than I do right now. I couldn't keep her here when she should be with them." Then, Danny smiled. "Besides, I'll be talking to her each day on the phone or Skype."

Reid grinned at him, and the whole group headed back to their cars.

It wasn't until they'd left that Reid remembered they'd never found out why Maddie and Danny knew Russian.

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A/N: LONGEST CHAPTER YET! Anyways, obviously there will be an epilogue, which will have a lovely lead-in to the sequel. That should be up before the end of the month, depending on what happens with my second vacation/getting ready for school to start again. Yay, school…. Read and review, please!


	14. Epilogue

A/N: Okay, so I have no internet until I get back home, so congrats, you all get a new chappy about a week earlier than expected (provided I can get online to post)! Insert special, happy feelings here.

Warning(?): This chapter is narration heavy and has been rearranged several times in previous versions. If anything is confusing, let me know and I'll correct it/explain it further.

Playlist for this chappy/epilogue: "It's Been A While" by Staind, "Far Away" by Nickelback, "The Middle" by Jimmy Eat World, and "Invincible" by Crossfade.

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_"What is insanity, anyway? Is it when you scream and everyone else whispers, or is it when you fight for what's right, even when everyone else thinks you're wrong?" — Anonymous_

It had been a month and a half since the Fentons and friends had gone back to Amity Park, and the BAU team spent that time helping Danny readjust to normal life.

Danny had quickly caught on to the team's routine. Each day, he and Reid got into the office at 0600 on the dot. Reid would go straight to his desk and start paperwork while Danny lounged, slept, or read until Morgan and/or Garcia got in. At that point, he'd be whisked away by one of them (usually Garcia) so Hotch could get an update from Reid on how Danny was coping with everything Vlad had done. The team was fairly certain that Danny had no clue that they were checking up on him, but they still were very careful to keep it from him. After all, none of them wanted to see him hurt more.

Hotch even _worried_ about Danny as only a father could. He couldn't help but think of his son Jack and how he'd react to going through the same things as Danny. Which led to thinking of Jack as a teenager, which led to sleepless nights where Hotch was glad teenagerdom was still ten years away. As such, these interrogations on Danny's progress tended to be daily and thorough, double and triple checking whether there was any way to help Reid.

This day, almost two months after Reid found Danny in that alley, was no different. Morgan and Prentiss distracted the teen while Hotch pulled Reid into his office.

"How is he?" The blunt and succinct question was the standard opener for this conversation.

"About the same," Reid began. "He's getting better with remembering to eat more frequently. Especially when Garcia's bugging him about keeping to the schedule I set up."

About a week after his family left, Danny was surprised by Reid while he was changing shirts. The BAU agent was shocked to find that he could count the teen's ribs, even though he knew Danny was eating three full meals a day. When Reid questioned Danny on it, he explained that his metabolism was extremely fast due to his ghost-half speeding through the nutrients. Needless to say, Reid quickly had Danny on a different diet to provide him with enough nutrition throughout each day. The whole of their team learned early on that it was not wise to let Danny skip a meal or snack, as he'd get dizzy and light-headed within an hour of the missed meal. It took only one fainting scare for each member of the team to memorize the diet plan Reid had created and constantly check in that Danny was sticking to it.

Hotch nodded. "I'm sure Garcia can be… convincing."

Reid shook his head, chuckling. "That's one word for it…. Oh, and Danny's starting to wear short sleeved shirts now. There've been a few odd looks from people who notice the scar on his arm, but he's managing to just shrug them off."

The scar Reid spoke of had been a problem for Danny, mostly because it was obviously meant to be a fatal wound but also because so many people assumed it was self-inflicted. A few people had actually asked Danny if he was suicidal, but he simply told them it was a problem that had been dealt with already. He later explained to Reid that it really wasn't a lie since the problem—Vlad—had indeed been solved.

"Good," Hotch said, nodding, some of the tension leaving his face and posture. "And the other scars?"

Reid sighed. "He still can't see them without having a flashback or panic attack. Admittedly, those aren't as bad as they used to be, but still. And he's still having nightmares, but he's dealing with them on his own."

The whole team knew Danny had originally had problems looking himself in the mirror following his release from the hospital. He hated having any of the scarred words on his back and chest showing, so he'd taken to wearing long, loose shirts to hide those marks, along with the weight he'd lost due to his travels and metabolism. Even with Reid's schedule, Danny tended to lose weight rather than gain it.

"Anything else?"

"Well, every so often if I spot him grabbing something—food, clothes, or anything, really—from a pantry or closet, he'll react like I caught him stealing. That's gotten a little better, and it's really more from living on the streets for so long, but he's working on it. He usually catches himself before he runs or gets too far into apologizing. He tries to laugh it off, but you can tell he's annoyed that his flight instinct is still ingrained from the past two years. But it's getting less frequent now. He's starting to realize he's welcome to anything in the house."

Hotch smiled wryly at that. "Did you find any of his 'sorry' notes when he took something?"

Reid chuckled. "Only for the first few days."

Hotch shook his head, amused. Then, he looked back at Reid. "Is he keeping in touch with his friends and family?"

Reid grinned. "Everyday. He's always waiting by the phone for Sam's daily four o'clock call. And twice a week he Skypes them all. They've even asked for me or Garcia to join them for those calls."

"That's good. He's not keeping anything from them?"

The genius shrugged. "They still don't know the full story of what Vlad did or what he still needs to cope with, but they know he's doing better. Besides, it's more because he's not quite ready to tell them." Reid sighed. "He gave them all my number, in case something happened to his phone or they couldn't reach him for some reason. Maddie and Jack tend to call me to make sure Danny's telling the truth about doing better."

"And what do you tell them?" Hotch was leaning forward, honestly curious.

"Basically, that Danny _is_ doing better, but there's still a ways to go. I've told them what I know about how his ghost-half affects him and his health, though. They know all about his metabolism and resistance to drugs, as well as his speed healing and abnormal body temperature, heartbeat, and blood pressure."

For, indeed, the team found out that the last three were a bit off. It took some explaining from Danny for them to truly understand.

His ghostly core was ice, so his temperature was quite a bit lower than most, ninety-one at the highest. Because his core was so cold, his heart naturally worked a bit slower, causing his blood pressure to lower as well, since only half the blood in his body was human blood. The other half was ectoplasm, which didn't need to be pumped by his heart in order to flow through his blood stream. In fact, the ectoplasm helped push along the human blood, which also decreased the amount of work his heart needed to do. In all, it was incredibly interesting (to Reid) to see just how well his two halves coexisted.

"I'm glad he's doing so well, Reid," Hotch stated, truly smiling now. "How's it going with catching him up in schoolwork?"

"Decently." Reid shrugged. "He's having a hard time focusing, though. I think that's due to the way he's been living the past two years, but it could also be ADHD. He told me he was tested for it when he was young but thought it'd 'gone away' in middle school. I just can't figure out how to ask him to get tested again. Other than that, it's more about finding a way to keep him interested in the subject."

In between cases, the team took turns splitting up school classes to help bring Danny up to speed with his friends and former classmates. His homeschooling was eclectic as such, taking foreign languages from Prentiss, PE and "communication classes" (aka flirting tips) with Morgan, home economics from JJ, and computer classes with Garcia. Hotch and Rossi helped Reid "dumb down" the math, science, and psychology lectures to keep Danny interested.

"Prentiss, Morgan, and Garcia do a better job keeping Danny's attention than JJ or I do."

Hotch raised an eyebrow at that. "I would've thought JJ would be able to keep him interested."

"Ah, that was more due to him ending up teaching _her._"

"Hm?" Hotch's brow furrowed in confusion.

Reid grinned. "Apparently, Danny's an amazing cook. He kept correcting JJ's techniques and recipes. I think she gave up."

It took a moment for that to sink in. When it did, Hotch chuckled. "Maybe we'll have to have one of our 'celebrations' at your place after a case."

After a case had been solved, Danny tended to get invited along to any celebration the team (Garcia) had planned. For those cases that called the team away from home, Danny would stay at one of Morgan's homes to watch Clooney, Morgan's overprotective Doberman mix. Clooney had actually taken to Danny immediately, treating him more like his puppy than his owner's friend. Morgan, Prentiss, JJ, Garcia, and Reid were highly amused the first time they came back from a case to see Clooney sleeping curled up beside Danny and nudging him around the house to make sure he was where he needed to be. Of course, the focus of their amusement turned to the resident genius as the "Reid effect" took place and Clooney began barking and pushing Danny away from the "threat" that was Reid. Danny had rolled his eyes, heading over to Reid and showing Clooney that he was okay.

Before Reid could respond, Rossi interrupted as he leaned into the room. "You two might want to see this," he muttered.

Reid and Hotch both sent him confused looks. "See what?" Reid asked, moving towards the door.

Rossi moved aside, saying only, "Look for yourselves." He waved an arm towards the cubicles, where Danny, Prentiss, JJ, Morgan, and Garcia stood gaping at a delivery man who held a decent-sized box under his arm.

Danny had a few false starts before blurting out, "You mean that's for _me?_" Ignoring the delivery man's nod, he asked the others, "Who would send me something? Or, at least, who would send it _here?_"

Morgan shrugged, and Prentiss guessed, "Your family or friends?"

Danny shook his head, brow furrowing. "They would've told me to expect it…." He turned back to the slightly annoyed delivery man. "Who's it from? Did they say?"

The delivery man glanced down at the clipboard in his hand. "Only name given was Cossack. Are you gonna sign for it or wha—?"

But Danny had quickly snagged the clipboard, scribbling his name before handing it back and reaching for the box. Once he had it, he eagerly tore through the tape, not noticing as the delivery man left and the team crowded around. He pushed open the flaps, coming first across a short note written in Russian. He easily translated it as he read to himself.

_Hello, Nephew!_

_I hope all is well with you. I hear you are in Washington, D.C. while your family readjusts to Amity Park. Your mother told me you might like some of these old keepsakes. I wanted to let you know that I am renting an apartment just outside Quantico and you are welcome to stay there with me until you can move back with your family. I will be flying in on the twenty-third and arriving at 3:00 pm._

_See you soon,_

_Uncle Yassen_

_P.S.— Make sure you refamiliarize yourself with these keepsakes. It has been a while, after all, and some things changed._

Grinning at the P.S., he dug through the packing peanuts, pulling out first a black, long-sleeved T-shirt with _Ruski Rock_ and a logo emblazoned on the front. He gently folded it back up and set it on a desk.

The next object pulled from the box was a neon green iPod nano. Danny scrolled through the pre-loaded songs, smiling to see a nice mix of English and Russian bands. The headphones were a matching green, and a clear cover was also dug out of the box. He quickly snapped the cover into place, not wanting to smudge the small device's screen.

His hand dove once more into the box, this time coming up with a simple leather choker. A stylized version of the Russian letters "Deh" (Д) and "Eph" (Ф), the latter inside the former, was etched onto the front. He gingerly pressed each of his fingers to the design, one at a time, then smiled widely and latched it around his neck. Then, he gathered the shirt in his hands, placing both the note and the iPod in one of his pants' pockets before happily heading off to change into his new shirt.

Rossi, Hotch, and Reid came over then, examining the empty box once it was in reach. Reid glanced at Prentiss, motioning at the return address, which was in Russian. "So, that reads Cossack?"

She shook her head, pointing out the letters as she replied, "No, it says Yassen. That backwards R would be translated 'Ya,' C's become S's, E's stay the same, and the H is an N. Яссен, Yassen."

Reid stared in the direction Danny had left. "But then… who's Yassen? And why did he send Danny all these things?"

"Better question," Morgan declared, "why did he use a false name?"

Now, they all had joined Reid in staring at Danny's disappearing form as Hotch muttered, "And how do we find any of those answers without Danny knowing?"

The team shared a glance. Whatever mess Danny was in, it wasn't over yet.

But they'd see it through to the end, whatever and whenever that might be.

_"The distinction between sanity and insanity is narrower than the razor's edge, sharper than a hound's tooth, more agile than a mule deer. It is more elusive than the merest phantom. Perhaps it does not even exist; perhaps it is a phantom." — Philip K. Dick_

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A/N: Wow, it's over. But obviously there shall be a sequel, hopefully coming out soon. It will be in the Danny Phantom/Alex Rider cross-over section, just to warn you, titled _Cloak and Dagger. _I'm currently about three or four chapters away from the pre-write of the ending, so it should come out fairly quickly, and the chapters will be quite a bit longer. Yay! Anywayz, I hope you enjoyed this story and that you'll stick around for its sequels! Read and review, please!


	15. Sequel Posted!

A/N: Hey, just letting you all know the sequel, _Cloak and Dagger_, has officially been posted! As a thanks for sticking this story through to the end, here's a snippet from the first chapter!

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Finally, when Reid had gone silent, Hotch sighed. "Has Danny still been answering the calls from his friends and family?"

Reid nodded. "Everyday at four. He talks for hours with them, too. I once ha to practically hang up for him one night. He was still speaking with Sam at 10:30."

Hotch chuckled. "Then I don't think you need to worry too much, Reid. But, if it's still bothering you, talk with Prentiss. She might have been able to read some of that note Danny got with his delivery."

Reid absentmindedly nodded, already standing and heading for the door. "Thanks, Hotch," he called as he left, heading straight for Emily Prentiss' desk. He glanced around quickly, making sure Danny was out of earshot. "Hey, Prentiss?"

She blinked up at him, taking in his nervous posture with an eyebrow raised. "Yeah, Reid?"

"I, uh, was wondering if, um, if y—you'd managed to read any of the n—note Danny got in—in that package last week?"

Prentiss' eyes went wide. "Um, yeah, I saw a little bit of it. But I just skimmed it, so I didn't get a good idea what it was talking about…."

"What _did_ you see?"

"Uh, nephew, renting an apartment, Washington D.C., keepsakes, stay, twenty-third, three in the afternoon…. There was a P.S., but I didn't get a chance to read any of it."

Reid paced between a couple desks. "So it's from Danny's uncle. Must be talking about when Danny can move in to his apartment…."

"At three in the afternoon tomorrow?" One of Prentiss' eyebrows had quirked up again.

The genius froze, realizing that didn't sound quite right. "Maybe it's a meeting time? For when the uncle would get into town?"

Prentiss thought it through, nodded. "Maybe. But shouldn't we just ask—?"

"N—No!" Blushing at Prentiss' shocked stare, Reid added, "I'm just being extra careful, and I don't want to worry him over nothing…."

Both glanced up when they heard humming coming from the hallway that led to Garcia's bunker. The two shared a grin as Danny walked by, oblivious to the onlookers. He made circles with his right wrist, clenching and unclenching his fist and flexing his arm at the elbow. It was a habit Morgan first noticed immediately following Danny's cast being removed. Whenever they brought it up, Danny would blush and explain that he was trying to restrengthen his arm after a month and a half of no use.

But Danny simply walked by, heading down another hallway. Reid sighed, looking back at Prentiss. "I'm sure he'll tell me if it's important."

Prentiss glanced once more after Danny, murmuring, "I sure hope he will…."

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A/N: Enjoy!


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